Following Dawn
by October Breeze
Summary: Yuffie takes a job at her father's modeling agency for the summer and finds that not everything is as it seems. Someone there is a cold blooded killer, and Yuffie is quickly wrapped into a world of betrayal and lies. YxL
1. Chapter 1

General Disclaimer: All Kingdom Hearts characters belong to their respective owners, and certainly do not belong to me.

Following Dawn  
_A dream is never just a dream, and things are never as they seem. _

Hard, pounding music echoed through Yuffie Kisaragi's chest as she made her way towards the main dance floor, the labyrinth of halls leading to dark and smoky unknown places she did not want to wander. Her teeth grinded together as she put one hand on the wall to guide herself through the dark, her way only occasionally lit by rogue laser and strobe lights that broke away from the main dance floor. As she got closer, reds and greens and blues danced across her white top, and then her vision met a mass of people, dancing together, snakelike.

Oh, she really didn't want to be here. Damn Godo. Damn, damn, damn, damn. Sure, she liked a party just as much as the next girl, but this was too much. Only ten minutes ago she'd nearly stumbled into what appeared to be a sex room, and ten minutes before that she'd gotten pushed into someone, who then went on to spill their drink all over themselves – mercifully missing Yuffie, which really would have been a disaster considering the shade she was wearing.

"No, you have to represent me, Yuffie," she mocked to herself, imitating her father, but her voice was drowned out from the heavy techno music pulsing all around her. Did she want to try and squeeze through the crowd to get to the back door, or did she want to risk getting lost in the halls again?

Crowd, she decided, and started half heartedly dancing into the fast moving dancers, pushing her way through the narrow openings that occasionally presented themselves. Hands groped her legs, arms, chest, thighs as she slipped past mysterious disembodied fingers that seemed to appear out of nowhere. The more she moved, the less the door at the back seemed to appear. In fact, she could hardly see it at all anymore. Yuffie painfully turned around to glance at the large doorway she had just come from.

"I only moved TEN FEET!" she nearly shrieked, wishing she could rip their hair out. She was hot, sweaty, tired, hungry, and pissed off. She was not going to battle her away across this snake pit or wait until dawn for the party to end. And yet, the disturbing mental images of the things she had seen in the hallway warded her off.

Yuffie glanced around the dancers, trying to find any familiar faces. Her father, Godo, had been invited to some model's party and couldn't make it, so he had sent her in his place. The party had started out nicely enough – sophisticated, waiters with those little appetizers with a French name that Yuffie couldn't remember, in one room – and of course, this dance floor, which had been depopulated by about three fourths when she had first arrived – until more and more people came, and the party got out of hand.

At least there were multiple sexy male models to stare at. Of course, most of them were far too pretty for her taste, and she had a fifty percent chance of picking out a gay one.

Her eyes looked for a way out, or at least for a familiar face. Finally, her eyes landed on a certain silver haired male that she had known before her father signed him on to the agency. She hadn't noticed him before, probably because she rarely saw him without his dark haired friend, Sora. 'Oh well, maybe he would know a way out!' Yuffie thought excitedly, working her way over to one of the walls Riku was leaning against, hand in one pocket and his hair falling over his face in such a careless way that Yuffie wondered if he had wanted it that way. His startling turquoise eyes glanced up at her as she made her way over to him. She could smell alcohol on him.

"Hey, Yuffie," he said tonelessly. Yuffie could barely hear him.

"Are you trying to look badass again?" Yuffie chirped loudly, poking his side. "Am I ruining your image?"

"You're annoying," he replied, his voice rising over the loud music this time. Good, he could take a hint.

"I'm stuck here," Yuffie moaned, leaning against the wall, too. It was nice and cool. "What are you doing just standing here? Don't tell me you really are trying to look bad—"

Riku put a finger over his mouth. "Shush! He'll see us!"

Yuffie looked around. "Who? Hey, where's So—"

Riku cringed and covered his hand over her mouth, and dragging her through a door that Yuffie had mysteriously overlooked for the past two minutes. The two doors swung open easily with both of their weights pushing against them. Yuffie gasped, but her voice was muffled against his skin.

His hand was still clamped over her mouth as he pulled her down, and Yuffie was trying her best to simultaneously scream and slobber in it. Riku raised a finger to his lips, then let her go. She fell backwards onto the carpeted floor.

"That was a little overdramatic, don't you think?" she demanded, wiping her mouth.

"Shh! I'm hiding," he whispered, the music very muted in this room. All she could feel was the floor throbbing underneath her from the loud speakers. "Besides, I've always wanted to try that."

"You're… hiding," Yuffie repeated, resisting the urge to break into laughter. "You were doing a really bad job of it. I found you in less than a minute."

"Only from one person," Riku said, and by what little light there was, Yuffie could see he looked annoyed. "Sora. I accidentally made out with his ex-girlfriend and now he's pissed at me."

"So how do you accidenta—"

Her last sentence was cut off by the sound of the doors they had just come through swishing open violently. Yuffie ducked behind the couch and Riku did the same, although if there had been any late at all in the room, they would be more than obvious. Riku turned to look at her, his eyes wide.

"Close it and lock it," a voice said as two pairs of footsteps walked into the room. There was a momentary pause, then the door swung shut quickly, apparently by a hand, and she heard a sliding lock move in place.

'Oh my god,' Yuffie mouthed to Riku, huddling closer. She was freaked out now. At first she had thought it would just be a couple wanting to get nasty, but the authoritative, almost sinister voice said otherwise.

"I'm tired of this. You will do what I tell you to do, as your contract says, whatever I want you to do, when I want you to, and et cetera. Do you understand? You know the consequences? As I'm sure you know all too well…"

"And I'm sure _you_ know all too well, as well," replied an angry, strained voice to the sinister one.

"I don't care if you're at your breaking point. I don't care if you have to kill yourself to keep going. And if stop for one second, I will tell him, and things will worsen one hundred fold."

Silence.

"Do you agree?"

"No, I don't."

Silence.

"I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter."

There was a thud, and a stifled groan. "Smile pretty. I don't want to keep them waiting… however, if you must, you may go for tonight."

The door unlocked and swung open, letting the music filter into the room, which thankfully covered the squeak that Yuffie mistakenly let out. One of the footsteps walked out of the room. The door swung shut in a moment or two, closing the music out again. A loud bang echoed through the room; it sounded like someone had punched a wall.

She could feel Riku stiffening beside her. The man sat hard on the couch they were hiding behind, his breaths slightly ragged. Yuffie reached out and grabbed Riku's arm, her cold fingers squeezing hard. He flinched and gave her a warning glance by the light that was available in the room. It seemed like hours passed, and the man still hadn't left, although in reality, it had probably been only ten minutes.

Finally he stood up to leave. Yuffie held back the breath she wanted to let out in sheer relief that they could leave and stretch out their legs. The man walked to the doors, yet instead of leaving, he seemed to be looking for something. All of the sudden, light flooded the room, and the back of the couch they were hiding behind was in clear sight. Yuffie felt her blood turning cold.

And he saw them, was facing them, appearing much taller and larger than they from their crouching position. He was obviously a model—he had dark hair on the long side, deep blue eyes, and a body that screamed 'I work out five times a week.' However, his face was twisted into an expression that was neither friendly nor beautiful.

Yuffie's mouth dropped open as he walked towards them. "What the hell are you two doing in here?" he asked, his voice dangerous. They froze, unable to answer, completely in shock. "I _said, _what the _fuck _are you doing in here? What did you hear?"

"N-Nothing," Yuffie stammered, as Riku continued to stare, his face pale.

"We were just looking for the exit and we got lost," Riku said, his voice subdued as he seemed to pull himself together. "Calm down, Squall."

Yuffie glanced at him quickly. He knew this man? But, of course he did. They were both models, in the same agency. Why wouldn't they know each other? Her gaze turned back to Squall, who had zeroed into her, staring as if he was trying to place her. She bit the inside of her cheek.

"We'll be going now," Riku said, standing up and pulling Yuffie with him by the wrist. They walked past the man, and despite Riku's blanched face, he seemed pulled together. Yuffie felt like a naked tree in the winter, trembling and exposed. Squall watched them leave. Once they were out of sight, Riku's grip on Yuffie hardened and he dragged her through the crowd, his steps purposeful, until they reached a lit hallway.

"What was that?" Yuffie asked, her voice breathless and her fingers still trembling slightly. Riku didn't look much better.

"Some messed up shit is going on," he said in reply, looking into the crowd of dancers. "I've never seen him like that before. He always seems so composed when I see him."

"What was that guy threatening him about?" Yuffie wondered, crossing her arms. "God, this has been the worst day. I thought we were gonna get killed for sure."

Riku nodded, some of the color starting to return to his face. "Oh, great," he muttered, his tone changing into exasperation.

"Huh?" Yuffie turned around and saw a dark haired boy walking towards them, looking deeply annoyed. Sora.

"Sora? I can explain," Riku said, holding his hands up. Sora glared at him and Yuffie almost laughed.

"I can't believe you. I was dating her for a year, Riku! That's low! And then you actually run away when I catch you?"

"It was a knee jerk reaction, Sora. Really. I was drinking tonight, and I didn't even recognize her, she had so much makeup on…"

"Are you trying to say something?"

Yuffie glanced at Riku, feeling mildly sorry for him. "Hey, guys? I'll just be going now, so uh, feel free to continue this somewhere…" Sora turned to look at her as if he hadn't even noticed her before. Honestly, Yuffie wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't with his complete absentmindedness.

"Yuffie!" he exclaimed, anger evaporating in surprise.

"Hey, hi," she said, her adrenaline and fear from the previous situation making her body transform that energy into some strange nervous energy. She started laughing, suddenly finding this whole situation extremely funny when she knew it wasn't. Both of them gave her weird looks. "Really, I have to… go. I am… exhausted," she said between laughter, and started walking back into the dance hall to find a different exit. She could feel their eyes on her back, probably wondering if she had just cracked.

Yuffie covered her mouth, trying to silence herself. It worked, anyway. She went down a different hallway near the one where Riku and Sora were arguing, hoping there was an exit inside. For the life of her she couldn't remember where she had come in from.

Before long, a door came into view, and without having to wonder if it was an exit or not, a large red exit sign hung above the door. Yuffie grabbed the doorknob like it was a lifeline. The door swung open and a cool night breeze hit Yuffie's face. She paused for a moment, and lifted her face, reveling in the clean smell compared to the sweat and alcohol stench that had lingered inside the party. For the first time that whole day, she felt a quiet sense of peace and pushed the thoughts of the party from her mind.

She sat down on the ground against the wall of the building. This exit had led to the back of the building, into a parking lot, an ideal place for her father's driver to pick her up. Yuffie pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed the number she had been craving to punch for the last hour.

"Hello," a deep voice answered after two rings, with no question in it whatsoever. Yuffie smiled.

"Vincent! Please get me out of here. Oh please. Godo made me come to this dumb party, and I've been stuck here for three hours, and I really—"

"I'll be there soon, Ms. Kisaragi."

"Vincent! For the last time, it's _Yuffie_!"

"Yuffie." And with that, the conversation was terminated. She sighed and rested her head against the wall. Vincent Valentine was her father's personal chauffeur, and seeing as Yuffie couldn't drive, she was left in his capable hands when it came to getting around. He was a tall man, and always wore dark outfits, though Yuffie thought it was because it was something of a job uniform. His hair used to be long, until Godo requested that he cropped it. Vincent had done so without complaint, although it was slowly but surely growing its way back to its normal length.

It didn't take long for Vincent to get there, something fairly surprising to Yuffie, considering she was downtown and her house was on a high hill in the suburbs, where Vincent should have been coming from. Curious, Yuffie watched the sleek, black car roll up next to her. She opened the backdoor and slid inside with a happy sigh.

"Were you on an errand for my dad, Vincent?" Yuffie enquired as they got on their way. Vincent shook his head, and she could see a hanging cross earring in his right ear lobe, which had, moments before, been concealed by hair. "Hey, that's bad ass! Where'd you get that done?" She was trying to put on some semblance of normalcy, to avoid any questions that he may have for her, rather than act like the exhausted zombie she actually felt like.

Vincent was trying to keep his attention on the road, but his fingers distractedly covered his right ear. "It was a long time ago."

"Oh, mysterious," Yuffie murmured, sitting back in her seat. Vincent was definitely not the one to go to for conversation. Maybe the earring embarrassed him. He seemed pretty conservative to her, but that earring was definitely not. But she liked it. It had character. Vincent still had hope in her books. The rest of the car ride Yuffie waited for it to appear again whenever they were on turns, or when Yuffie coaxed him to shake his head again (discreetly, of course). It never showed again, and by the time they pulled into the driveway, Yuffie had half forgotten it, not to mention the events of the party.

Yuffie's house came into view, white and on the large side, the black trim around the windows and bushes that Godo never kept trimmed. It looked like the average upper middle class house, despite its location on the biggest hill of the city and its size, larger than the other houses in the neighborhood. Godo would have settled for nothing less, just like Yuffie had refused, five years ago, to live in a house that would make her nose turn up snootily and walk with Gucci bags everywhere. In the confines of her mind, she knew that idea was ridiculous, but she wanted normalcy. Being Godo's daughter gave her a harder time at achieving that than others her age.

Perfectly a gentleman (at least Yuffie liked to believe it was this that drove his actions, and not his job), Vincent opened the door for her, and she ran to the back door in a flash, desperate for a shower. Of course, before she could even get into the sun room, Godo caught her.

"Yuffie! How was the party?" he asked, putting a heavy arm over her shoulder and leading her into the house, looking cheerful. Yuffie scowled and ducked out from under his arm and kicked her shoes off at the doorway, wishing Vincent wasn't always so quick to leave whenever father and daughter were 'reunited.' She could already hear the car pulling out of the driveway, where it would stop less than a mile down the road at Vincent's house.

"I can't believe you made me go to that stupid party. This is the _last_ time, Dad. It wasn't my thing, isn't my thing, and you know that."

"I understand, honey. But I had a very important business meeting and I couldn't make it. I wanted you there to make sure…"

"Make sure, what?" Yuffie snapped rhetorically, knowing she was being ridiculous but refusing to acknowledge it.

"Nothing," he said, following her as she walked into the kitchen and set her bag down on the counter. He took a seat at the island in the center of the kitchen. "There's some lasagna sitting in the oven in case you want any."

"Did you make it yourself?" she asked, turning on him and raising her eyebrows. He hadn't cooked anything since her mother had died nearly ten years ago. He made half hearted attempts at cooking, but gave up somewhere along the way. Her mother had been an excellent cook.

"Ready made."

Yuffie wrinkled her nose and leaned against the counter, studying her father discreetly. He was a nondescript man, with black hair like eyes sprinkled with gray on the sides, which was the only betrayer of his age. Besides their hair color, she looked nothing at all like him.

"The thing is, Yuffie, it might just be your 'thing,' soon," Godo said, his tone turning propositional as he steepled his fingers and leaned back into his chair at the marble island.

"No," Yuffie said in a warning tone, staring at him in incredulity. "No, no, no. Not this year, Dad."

"Yuffie, this could be _good_ for you. Think about it. Extra money, experience in your career of choice—"

"Dad, have we been living under delusions for five years? Every summer we go through this. You want me to work with you at Rain Models. And I always say no! You and I both know it is not my 'career of choice.'" She gripped the countertop with her hands.

"Even if that's true, the agency can open a lot of doors for you later in life."

"Having a father who is a co-owner of one of the biggest agencies in this country will open a lot of doors for me."

"You know, Yuffie, you aren't a carrier of my last name. Not only that, but at this moment, I have the money you need to go to college, which, God knows why, you have your heart set on—"

"That is what I should be doing!" she exclaimed, unbelieving. He was acting like a complete tyrant, trying to manipulate her to do what he wanted. "It's always about _you_, isn't it, Dad? You don't want me there for my own good. You want me there so I can set a good impression and make you look better, or show me off like a pet. I won't have it."

Godo examined his fingernails nonchalantly. "Then I guess you won't be going to college at the end of the summer after all. Nor will you see Selphie, nor any of your other friends. Until you take some responsibility, I won't give you any privileges."

Yuffie got off the counter, grabbed her bag angrily and walked into the foyer, slapping her hand on the staircase railing. "I guess I have no CHOICE but to take your STUPID job, then!" she yelled, stomping up the steps to her room and slamming the door. Yuffie stopped momentarily there, her heart racing. She could hear Godo walking around downstairs, probably acting smug with himself. She cursed him angrily and threw her bag down on her bed and dug threw it, looking for her cell phone.

When her hands felt the cool plastic, she picked it up and clicked the first number on her phone book, sitting down on her bed and listening to the ringing, distantly wondering what time it was but deciding she didn't care. She had called Selphie much later than this.

"Hello?" said a sleepy voice from the other end. "Yuffie?"

Yuffie took a moment to compose her voice so she wouldn't be throwing her anger onto Selphie. "Did I wake you up?"

"Not really. I just got into bed. What's up?"

"Godo. That bastard. You won't believe he's doing," Yuffie said, gripping her phone. She heard something being muffled on the other end, and some blankets rustling.

"I would believe anything, Yuf. What'd he do _now?" _Yuffie sighed, lying back on her bed. Selphie was always the one to hear the outcome of her and her father's fights. She and Yuffie had been friends since junior high, when Yuffie had needed glue in art class and Selphie conveniently had three containers of it in her book bag (apparently she had never stopped eating glue in kindergarten, but she would never have admitted it). Unlike Yuffie, however, Selphie was still in high school and would be a senior when school started again.

"He's making me work at Rain Models," Yuffie said, as if he had sentenced her to life as a janitor.

"Is that really so bad? I mean, think about it. Rain Models, Yuffie. Anyone would kill to work there. If you worked your way up, you'd be set for life. Two lives, even. I wouldn't mind working there… I know it bothers you, but… you're really lucky." Selphie's tired voice subtly altered. Yuffie felt her face heat up.

'God, Yuffie, do you have no tact at all?' she thought to herself in annoyance. Selphie had four younger brothers and sisters, and her parents didn't have enough money for them all. Selphie worked two jobs trying to help them stay above water, but it never seemed to be enough.

"I know, Selph," Yuffie said, her voice soft as her anger drained. "I'm sorry for calling so late and ranting at you. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?" She could almost see Selphie nodding on the other end, under a pile of blankets in the darkness of her room.

"Okay. Night, Yuffie."

Yuffie ended the call and turned her phone off, and rolled on her side to look at her alarm clock. 12:45. She groaned and got up to find her pajamas. Selphie probably had been sleeping, considering she always was out like a light by eleven at the latest. She had all the qualities of a pushover and more, but her kindness had helped Yuffie out of many fixes in high school. After all, why would a mischief maker be such good friends with a goody two shoes?

Yuffie scanned the room. Her robe was hanging on the door to her bathroom. She peeled her clothes off and turned the shower on, goosebumps rising on her arms as she stepped under the spray, her mind sorting over the events of the party. It all seemed like a distant dream now, including being stuck in that room with Riku—although her exhaustion remained. After she finished washing, she didn't even bother to do her hair, and fell asleep in her robe in under two minutes.

And her sleep certainly seemed to last for only two minutes.

"Yuffie! Get ready! I'm taking you to RM!" Godo's voice pierced into her dreams. Yuffie's eyes opened. She knew she was in for a basket of fun.

* * *

I'm excited that I'm writing this pairing again! This chapter didn't take very long to write, and I don't think the ones that follow will, either -- unlike my other stories, I know where the plot is going, and how it will end, and that should make things infinitely smoother for all of us. I really hope you liked this chapter and will continue reading when I update again.

And if you don't review, it's a crime! At least it is for the time that I write this story. ;D


	2. Chapter 2

_The next chapter! Just to tell you, I don't know how IC these characters will be... particularly Vincent, whom I've never come into contact with before. So, just a fair warning to you. Also, thank you all for your kind reviews! The story will start heating up later on - most of this now is needed introductory. _

Following Dawn  
-II-

"Now, Vincent is going to drop you off, and later on, after someone has taken you through what you're going to be doing, I'll stop by and check up on how things are going," Godo chattered as Yuffie walked down the staircase early that morning. He stared at her critically. "That is what you're wearing the first day of work? Yuffie. You are my _daughter_. They expect better."

Yuffie bit the inside of her cheek to keep from responding, annoyance growing quickly in the pit of her stomach. First, he had woken her up at the crack of dawn, forced her to shower when she had already done so before going to bed, and then hassled her to hurry up so she wouldn't be late. Now he had to be critical of her outfit? Yuffie thought she was dressed well enough, in a pair of dark boot jeans and some random shirt that would have been fine for work. "What do you suggest I wear, then?" she asked, keeping her voice perfectly monitored of emotion.

"A skirt. Preferably black and pencil, with that white collar top that has two lines of lace down the sides. I know it sounds overly formal, but it is the first day." He smiled, but it hardly reached his eyes. He was all about appearances, and frankly, she couldn't stand it.

Yuffie turned on the stairs and walked back to the room at the very end of the hall: the clothing room. Her father kept rack upon rack of clothing from shoots, and because Yuffie was so small, she fit into almost everything without trouble. The clothing her father was asking for was certainly not going to be in _her _closet, in any case. Because he kept it coordinated by color, she found both pieces he had described quickly and changed, throwing her clothing on the ground, and walked downstairs. Godo had disappeared, and Vincent was standing at the door, his arms folded. When he saw her, he relaxed and opened the front door.

"Let's get going," she mumbled, looking around for her father in order to throw him the death glance he _knew _was waiting for him.

Yuffie huffed and whined the second she got in the car to the minute they arrived, and Vincent hummed along sympathetically in response. Once they hit downtown, Yuffie could already see the building: it was one of the tallest in the area, and was also so blindingly metallic that it could be storming and there would still be a glare from simply glancing at it.

Yuffie squirmed in her seat, trying to adjust the tights she was wearing, which were a tad too lose for her legs. The skirt was so tight, her poor butt was immune from the imagination as it highlighted everything perfectly, and her blouse looked like something a fashionable granny would wear.

"Do I look horrible?" she asked Vincent for the fifth time.

"You look fine," he replied, as if it had been the first. "We're here. I'll be by later with Mr. Kisaragi."

"Gotcha," Yuffie said, stepping out of the car and wobbling a little on her heels. She waved goodbye, when all she really wanted to do was beg him to take her away to eat somewhere and pretend like he had actually dropped her off. She knew there would be no such luck.

Yuffie stepped onto the sidewalk and looked up at the building—she couldn't simply glance up; she had to tilt her head at an angle to see the whole thing from this perspective. She pasted a smile on her face. 'Might as well pretend to like it. Maybe all that pretending will make it really happen. Like… direct psychology instead of reverse.'

She walked towards the door, still smiling, and opened them, only to nearly slam it into a tall, lean redhead standing by the glass.

"What the he--!"

"Just get Botox?" the man asked, pointedly looking at her smile, which she had forgotten to remove even after her exclamation.

"Um, no I didn't—"

"Hey, you're Godo's—sorry, Mr. _Kisaragi's_ daughter, aren't you? The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

Yuffie stared at him incredulously. Who _was_ this guy?

"My name… is Axel. Got…it…memorized?" He snickered.

"I heard you the first time," she snapped, crossing her arms. "Sorry, I didn't expect to be bombarded the second I walked in here."

"Whoa-ho-ho. So she does have a personality." He raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms as well, then circled her, looking her up and down. Yuffie flushed, feeling extremely awkward. Was this a normal day at work, or was he the anomaly? She glared at him, and suddenly his eyes darkened. "They all come in looking like you. Fake smile pasted on their face, thinking it's going to be a nice, fresh start for them here. But it isn't. They don't even have a clue." His voice had suddenly changed from bright and cheerful to low and moody all at once.

Yuffie honestly had no idea how to respond to him. He was acting just a bit too bipolar for her tastes. She decided to ignore him, a sure way to bother someone who obviously craved attention, or at least responses, and stared at her surroundings. Although her father worked here everyday, and even owned a share, she had never seen the agency before. She was standing in a well lit lobby, and people were walking up the stairs and into elevators, carrying cameras and suitcases. Suddenly, he spoke again.

"Sorry, I like to do that to everyone," Axel said, studying her, although his voice didn't sound quite the same as before. "You know. Knock 'em around a little bit. Make them uncomfortable. Did it work?"

"Look," Yuffie said, putting her hands on her hips. "I came here to work, not be messed around with. I have somewhere to be at the moment, and it isn't with you." She turned around and started walking towards the front desk.

"Actually," he called out to her, faking a yell, although he was hardly two feet from her. Normally, this type of humor was just her style—but today she was not ready to be screwed with. Yuffie had already woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. "Actually, your place is with me, baby. I'm your tour guide for the day."

Yuffie looked over her shoulder, a grin tugging at her mouth, and he sauntered over to her, looking smug. "I was assigned to show you the ropes today. No special treatment, Kisaragi. You're just like the rest of us, considering you're just a lowly assistant."

"Good, I didn't want special treatment, anyway," she replied as he put a hand on her back and whipped his arm out around him like he was showing off an amazing car display.

"This is the lobby. Nothing much to see here. We can go up the elevator and I'll show you the real rooms where you'll be doing your work…"

"What, exactly, am I doing here, anyway?" Yuffie asked as they walked to the elevator. "My dad didn't even bother telling me before I got here."

"Oh," Axel said, scratching the back of his head. "Well, it's pretty simple. You do the models' bidding around here, though for whatever reason, _Godo _preferred you to be working with the _male _models. I'm sure he has his reasons," he went on, his voice holding sarcastic layers. She was starting to wonder if her father wasn't exactly a favorite with him.

"_Male _models?" she mumbled as they stepped into the elevator, alone.

"All man."

Yuffie rolled her eyes, thinking of what her father had had running through his head when he ordered that to be her job. Of course, he probably wanted her to get in good with the guys. It was so like him. All the better for him, right, to have a son-in-law equally as rich as him?

The two lapsed into silence as Axel pressed the up arrow and leaned back against the wall, hands in his pockets.

"So… you're gay, right?" Yuffie finally asked after a few moments had passed, grinning.

Axel looked outraged. "Do I look gay to you? No gay man could ever pull off this look like I can, Kisaragi. Ever seen the way most of 'em dress? Yeah. I have way more class."

"And a bigger ego, right? What else is bigger?" she asked emphatically.

"I don't know, want to take a look?" He opened his arms and glanced down.

Yuffie choked and covered her mouth with her hand. Once the elevator dinged and opened, she stepped out quickly.

"You want it."

"God, is it that obvious," Yuffie stated, turning around and putting her hands on her hips. He smirked and she rolled her eyes. "Okay, for real. Where am I going to be working, and who with?"

Axel tapped his fingers on his chin, his arms still crossed, as he led her down a mildly busy hallway towards what looked like a row of cubicles with various workers working away. "Let's see. I guess it depends who needs you, but the models you'll probably be with are Roxas Winter, Riku Sakamoto, hmm…"

As they were walking, they passed the cubicles, and Axel was opening a grand looking door, standing to the side. Yuffie smiled triumphantly, thinking of Riku. It couldn't be that bad if she was working with him. "Who else? Possibly Vi—"

Just then, the door opened and a man walked right into her. She bit back a cry of surprise and tumbled to the ground, unable to catch herself. Yuffie groaned and looked up slowly. Stormy blue eyes stared down at her, only to be blocked by a shock of red hair moments later.

"Hey, Kisaragi, you all right? Damn, Leon. You could have been paying attention. What were you _doing_ in there?" Axel said as he gave her a hand. Yuffie took it and he yanked her up unceremoniously.

The man, Leon, stared at her, his face pale. Yuffie looked at him a bit shyly, then her jaw dropped open. This was the same man Riku and she had seen the previous night! Yuffie blushed, unable to stop herself. Though he stared at her with a look she couldn't explain, it held none of the rage from the night before. Yuffie couldn't help stare back at him in wonder. What a really, really, unfortunate coincidence. What if today was a good day, and he didn't have that temper from the night before? What would he do if he caught her alone after she overheard his discussion? Yuffie shuddered.

"Who are you?" Leon asked her. Axel stared at him.

"She's the new assistant. Only the one everyone's been talking about for the past few weeks," Axel said finally, annoyed.

Yuffie inwardly groaned. The past few weeks? But that was impossible… unless her father did exactly what she should have expected him to do. Lie. Of course, that's why he had been so adamant the night before about her taking the job, as he had already promised everyone she would be coming in. Bastard.

"Nice to meet you," Leon muttered, brushing past her and walking in the opposite direction. Yuffie turned and watched him go, feeling like she was missing something.

"Is he always like that?" she asked, rubbing her scraped elbow.

"Sometimes," Axel said mysteriously, also watching his retreating back. "He's been out of it lately. I don't blame him, though…"

Yuffie stared, not following.

"Never mind. You'll probably be working with him the most; after all, Godo is in love with him."

"What?!"

"Yeah, Leon's like his first born son. He's one of the first models Godo had recruited, you know. Considers him like his project or something. But you probably knew that already."

"Not really," Yuffie said, thinking about this. "I don't exactly follow my father's career."

"Huh. Good thing," Axel said, stepping into the room Leon had previously been in. "What the hell was he doing in here, anyway? That must've been why he looked like he pissed himself. Got caught in your new room, and with you being Godo's daughter…"

Yuffie sighed with annoyance. She didn't exactly ask to be Godo's daughter, or to be treated like this.

"Tada. So this is your new room."

Yuffie looked around, smiling despite herself. It _was_ a really nice room. There was a large window in the back wall with a gorgeous view of the city, a work table, a bookshelf wall on the right side, a desk, and numerous other things and gadgets scattered around the room.

Axel took in her expression. "Nice, right? I guess Godo wants his little daughter to have all the best. Well, I'm out. Good luck, Kisaragi."

"Whoa, whoa, wait," Yuffie exclaimed as he started walking out the door.

"Can't resist me after all, huh?"

"What am I supposed to do, now?" she asked, ignoring his comment.

"Go find a male model in distress. Who knows."

And with that he walked out, humming to himself as he closed the door behind him. Yuffie sighed and crossed her arms, feeling strange in this room alone, and took a seat at the desk, wondering what that man _had_ been doing in her room. She scanned the bookshelf and the worktable, trying to look for anything that seemed disturbed – but at the same time, if someone had just been setting the room up, it made sense that things might be a little out of order.

Something on the desk caught Yuffie's eye, however – a drawer on the right side of the desk, partially opened with a slip of paper sticking out. She slid back in her chair and pulled it open. Inside was a pile of untidy papers. She picked the first one up, and read the top.

_From the desk of Yuffie Kisaragi._

The piece she was holding up was slightly wrinkled, as if someone had been gripping it. She frowned and looked at it closer, wondering why her father would go through all this trouble for someone who was a lowly assistant.

Before she could muse any further, the door of her _room_ opened; she refused to think of it as an office. She glanced up, startled.

"What the hell, Yuffie?" said an all too familiar voice good naturedly. "Godo finally got you to come up and work with him?"

"Riku," Yuffie said in greeting, and slight relief. For some reason she had been expecting Leon. Riku walked into the room, hands in his pockets as he surveyed what they had set up for her.

"This is_ really_ nice. What are you supposed to be, head of the secretarial branch or something? You look really weird in that clothing, by the way."

"_Thanks._ But that is exactly what I was wondering," Yuffie said, crossing her arms. "Well, you know my dad. He always goes over the top with this stuff."

"Yeah," he said, stopping to look at her. "We need you down in the dressing room. They want you to take my measurements."

"So they sent _you_ to tell me this?"

He smiled sheepishly. "They were going to send one of the lowly ones, but I decided to grace you with my presence as a direct messenger. And I wanted to steal some candy from the little jars they set up on the desks." Yuffie glanced down. Indeed, there was a bowl of candy on the corner. He grabbed a handful of some kind of chocolate and popped in one his mouth. "Come on."

"This sucks!" Yuffie said as they walked down numerous halls. "I just want to be lazy over summer break. Kick back, relax, practice karate or something, and check out hot guy sat the pool. This is so not my thing."

"Stop whining. At least there are plenty of guys here for you to stare at," Riku said as the stopped in front of a nondescript door. "Now, prepare yourself. There are male models in here who are half naked. Don't get too excited or they might just have to fire you, even if you are Mr. Kisaragi's daughter."

"Shut up, loser," Yuffie said, pushing him. She laughed as he looked wounded. Even though this day had so far been a bust, at least Riku could make her feel more like herself. She was starting to look forward to this, and the prospect of hot guys walking around without shirts was a nice plus.

The door opened without the help of either Riku or Yuffie, and a dark haired woman stuck her head out the door. "I thought I heard your voice, Riku. Hurry up and get inside, it took you 'til Christmas to get here. I knew I should have sent someone else."

"Sorry, sorry," Riku muttered, stepping into the room and pulling his shirt off. Yuffie tried, nearly unsuccessfully, to avert her eyes as she followed him in. She wasn't interested in Riku at _all_, but just like a gruesome fight or a really ugly person, you can't help but stare at a naked body. Yuffie started laughing to herself, wondering what Riku would think if she compared his body to one of those two examples.

"You must be Mr. Kisaragi's girl," the woman said, standing by rows and rows of clothing and needles. "Do you know how to take measurements?"

Yuffie choked down her laughter. "No."

"Sew clothing?"

"No."

"Take snapshots?"

"Um… probably."

The woman rolled her eyes. "At least you're good for something. Come on, I'll show you how to take measurements."

"They have to redo mine," Riku said smugly. "I think I put on some muscle weight."

"More like fat weight," the woman said, snatching the few remaining candies from his hand.

"Hey!" he cried, scandalized.

"You're supposed to be on a diet!"

"I am on a diet!"

"So what were those candies doing in your hand then, mister?"

"I don't know how they got there."

"_Right_," she said, holding up a measuring tape. There were a few other models in the room being worked on as well, but Yuffie had an easier time ignoring them than Riku. "Now, what was your name again? Yuffie? Whatever. Anyways, first we're going to measure his height from shoulder down so you just… you just place the tape on his shoulder, then lower yourself slowly down…"

Riku started snickering.

"…and then stop at his feet. Got it?"

"Yeah," Yuffie said, throwing a death glare Riku's way.

"Now you try it."

Do I have to? she thought, but grabbed the measuring tape and followed her example. She could feel Riku shaking, probably with poorly withheld laughter, but refused to look up at his face. This was _too_ demeaning.

"Now what did you read?" the woman asked.

Yuffie looked at her tape. "Um...?"

She sighed. "We have a lot of work to do."

Thirty minutes later, after an agonizing lesson on measuring each and every body part on a male model's being, Yuffie was finally schooled on measurements. Hopefully she wouldn't forget it in the next few hours. The dark haired woman, whose name turned out to be Kreya, gave her the measuring tape they had been working with.

"Now, use it well. I think we're done for the day. Mr. Kisaragi called not too long ago and said he would be coming in, so you should probably get yourself ready to see him."

Yuffie raised her eyebrows. Get herself ready to see him? Right. Like he didn't always see her dressed in pajamas and messy hair everyday, nevertheless what she was wearing now, dressed fancily.

"Don't look like that, young lady. Mr. Kisaragi is a very important man, and you as his daughter should know that the most."

"I look good that way I am, don't you think, Riku?" Yuffie asked sweetly, turning towards him.

He sputtered. "Uh, yeah I guess."

"Thank you. But I think I'll just go back to my room… chill out there—"

"Yes, Yuffie?" said a different voice, the voice that could make her cringe. Her father was standing in the doorway, looking on them with approval. "Working hard, I see."

"I was just teaching your daughter how to take measurements, sir," Kreya said, flushing a bit, though it was so subtle Yuffie almost missed it.

"Good, good. I hope by the end of the month she'll be helping construct clothing."

"Yes, I was planning for that, too."

"Perfect. How did you like your room, Yuffie?"

Yuffie glanced at Riku, avidly wanting to get out of this situation, but he just shrugged. She knew there was nothing he could do, anyway. "It was nice, Dad. Thanks."

"No problem. You probably won't be spending most of your time in there, if my workers have you on your feet like I want you to be."

Yuffie nodded; there wasn't much she could say to that.

"I want you to meet one of our biggest models here at Rain, Yuffie," Godo said, walking towards her and putting a hand on her upper back. "He's in the middle of a shoot right now. I want you to watch him in action."

Godo led Yuffie through another set of hallways, until they got to a large room where a backdrop was set up, and standing against it, was none other than Leon. She should have known, after what Axel had already told her.

"Now, Yuffie," Godo said, dropping his hand and lowering his voice. "I want you to be friends with Leon, or even more… you know, he's not much older than you, and you haven't been dating for so long, I thought that…"

"Dad!" Yuffie said loudly, making everyone, including Leon, turn their heads. The photographer looked severely annoyed. He shushed her, his expression annoyed.

"Just think about it, Yuffie. If not Leon, then Riku. If not Riku, then… Roxas. I don't know. I don't want to force anything, honey…" he trailed off, backtracking.

_Sure you don't. _

"Just forget I said anything."

_Don't worry, I will. _

"But I _was _hoping that you could be a particular assistant to Leon Leonhart. His last assistant was unfortunately… she became ill recently, and I thought you would be perfect for the job. It's fairly easy as well, and you know, you would have a much higher pay raise, being a specific assistant to a model so high up in our agency."

Yuffie glanced at Leon, who had gone back to posing. It was good posing, Yuffie could tell, even if she wasn't acquainted with the mechanics of modeling as a career. He was sitting on a white chair and had his arm draped across it, his expression looking cool and slightly mysterious. Godo saw her watching him.

"He's good, isn't he? It would be an honor to be his assistant."

"What if I say no?"

"Then you'll know what I'll say. Honey, I really think this will be good for you. You will still help out the other models, just not quite as much. I know you're fond of Riku, Yuffie, but—"

"I am not!"

"The point is, think about it. I won't make you make the decision now. Sleep on it. Now, it looks like he's done. Let's go meet him."

"I've already met him," Yuffie said indignantly as he once again led her somewhere she was unwilling to go. Godo was about to say something, but Leon had already spotted them.

"Leon! This is my daughter, Yuffie, but she says you've already met?"

Leon glanced at her, his face looking… pleading? "Yes, we met earlier today." Yuffie glanced at him surprised. She thought for sure he would have mentioned the night before at the party.

"I'm glad you were introduced, then. I was just telling Yuffie she should take the job as your assistant."

"Were you?" Leon responded uncomfortably.

"Yes, and she really is a hardworking girl when she puts her mind to it. I think the job would be good for her as well."

Leon seemed to be growing more and more agitated the longer they spoke to him. Godo looked at him with mild concern.

"What's wrong, Leon? You look white as a ghost."

"I haven't eaten yet," he said, rubbing a hand over his face. "I'm sorry, I should go."

"Of course. Yuffie, Vincent will be waiting outside in thirty minutes, and I'm going to make a few rounds. Make yourself useful, all right?"

"Sure, Dad," Yuffie responded, and Godo left, making a few comments to some of the workers who were hovering over a screen, probably full of Leon's photos.

"So," Yuffie said, glancing at Leon, who was watching Godo, and he truly did look very white. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Look. About last night. It was nothing. I know I shouldn't ask you this, but – please don't say anything about it. It's been taken care of, and I don't know what Go – _he _would do if he found out." Leon looked at her, pleading with her. Yuffie had the impression he wasn't the pleading sort of guy.

"I-I won't say anything," Yuffie said, surprised. "I wasn't planning on it. It was private, and I shouldn't have been – hey, Leon, are you all right? I think you – "

Leon stumbled suddenly into the wall, and fell onto his knees. Yuffie felt her heart jump. "Oh my god. Are you all right? Should I call someone?"

"I'm fine," Leon said, his voice strained. His voice seemed steady, but his face wasn't gaining any color, and his face held a sheen of sweat. He seemed shocked that he had fallen, and that stopped him from trying to get up, Yuffie assumed – or he couldn't get up at all. Yuffie knelt down next to him and he looked at her, his eyes blank.

"I just need – a second," he said quietly, and in a few moments, he stood up, although unsteadily. Yuffie raised herself up with him and grabbed his arm to help him. She couldn't believe no one had seen this and come to help; she glanced around, and realized that they were the only ones around. When had the room cleared out so quickly?

"Let me help you," Yuffie said, but he shook his head and shook his arm out of her grip.

"I'm fine," he replied, his voice low. She felt frustrated. Now was no time for him to save his pride.

"Do you have a room?" He nodded.

"You don't have to come with me. I just got dizzy all of the sudden, and…" He trailed off. "I just need to eat something."

Yuffie wasn't sure if it was normal for people to just collapse when they hadn't eaten, but she quieted herself and grabbed his arm again.

"I'm coming with you."

Leon resigned himself to her, and he led the way down the hall to his room, or at least, to some sort of models lounge. No one was inside, but there was a table of dry food in the back. He seemed to be fine now, Yuffie realized, and she let go of her grip on his arm. He basically ignored her and went to the back, took a plate, and started piling food onto it.

"Are you really okay now?" Yuffie asked hesitantly, wondering if she had overreacted and feeling slightly embarrassed with herself for it. He turned towards her and nodded.

"Thank you," he said awkwardly, his blue eyes on hers. "I'm fine, though. You should go. You shouldn't be in here." It did seem to be a model's only lounge.

Yuffie nodded and swallowed, turning around and walking out the door. Before she closed it, she saw him eating, his back once again turned. There was a clock above the doorway, reading 4:27.

"Shit!" she said, pushing Leon to the back of her mind and walking quickly down the hallways to the lobby, where Vincent was sure to be waiting for her. She had forgotten all about him once Leon fell.

Once she got into the lobby, she was completely surprised to find him not waiting for her at all, but idling in the car on the curb. Usually he would wait for her – but it was unimportant to think about. She walked out the doors and got into the backseat without greeting him. He started driving away, and Yuffie wondered where Godo was.

"How was your first day at work?" Vincent inquired, studying Yuffie from his driving mirror. Did he notice something different in her?

"Fine," she said finally, watching the scenery blur past the window, away from her, and away from the agency. Home was waiting.

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Pleeease review. It would make me so happy, and definitely encouraged to write sooner. :D Especially with the holidays coming up... I won't have schoolwork to worry about (and I always have a LOT) so I'll have a new chapter out soon, hopefully. _


	3. Chapter 3

Following Dawn  
-III-

The sky was slowly setting behind the park, casting a warm reddish orange glow on the skin of Yuffie and Selphie, both sitting on the seats of a swing set and scuffling at the ground, not making use of their seats with actual swinging.

"So, he just kind of… fell over?" Selphie asked, stifling a giggle. "I would have loved to see your face. 'I-I'm just hungry… Graw!'" Selphie made a horrific noise and slumped over on her swing, and Yuffie made a face at her.

"Come on, Selph. It was serious," she said, pushing herself a few inches with her feet, back and forth, back and forth. "It was really scary. And then, and then this guy said something really weird to me when I first came in. Something about… people think the place is something… that's it's not… or _something_ weird like that. I don't really remember. But his voice got all creepy. It didn't really bother me then, but thinking about it now gives me the creeps. He acted like some crazy, sociopath killer the way he switched moods like that."

"Oh, chiller. Was he cute?"

"He was a total perv. But that's not really the point. The point is… the point is…" Yuffie stopped. She had no idea why she was still dwelling on it. Perhaps because, in all honesty, it had been her first day at work, at any work at all (considering her father never wanted her to work anywhere else but the agency) and it had been more drama filled than probably a lifetime of someone else's job.

"The point is, maybe he's bipolar and forgot to take his meds. I do it _all _the time."

Yuffie stared at her. "You are _not _bipolar."

"That doesn't mean I'm not other things."

"Oh, god," Yuffie said, snickering. "Is my life really a big, fat lie? Now, stop fibbing, are you really ADHD or not?"

"I'll never te—oh, hey, look at the sky!"

"Case in point…" Yuffie said under her breath, although of course, Selphie was paying no attention. She followed Selphie's finger to the clouds, which had turned a fluffy shade of pink against a red and purple backdrop.

"Why does the sun turn red?" Selphie mused to herself, a finger on the corner of her lips, which were turned up like she had a secret. "Maybe the moon cut it up to make it bleed and go away. It likes some attention every now and then. Too bad everyone is sleeping; they can't see it. And the sun is so good, it always comes back up again…"

"That was like, really poetic."

"I try," she said, spinning herself around in the seat and twisting up the chains. "Hey, it's getting dark. Maybe we should go back to your house."

"Good idea," Yuffie said, rubbing her arms, which were covered in goosebumps for reasons she couldn't really explain. "I hate walking around in the dark. Let's hurry."

"Or you could always call Vincent up."

"Um, yeah, except this park's like, five minutes away from the house."

"Ugh, all right, all right," Selphie said, getting up. Yuffie followed suit, and the two of them trekked through the forest separating the park from the large stretch of grass that led to Yuffie's house. Technically, the boundary after the woods was Godo's property – but they didn't upkeep it, and mostly kids who came to the park ran around in it. At that time in the day, however, no parent took their child out to play.

As they were walking, it became obvious that Yuffie had been exaggerating a bit – it took a little longer than five minutes to go back to her house, especially with the added effort of walking up a huge hill rather than going _down_ it. Yuffie and Selphie were both out of breath by the time the house came into sight, but just as they saw the tip of the house's roof, another figure showed itself in front of them.

"Vincent?" Yuffie said in confusion and surprise. He was looking at her with a grim, serious face, and even though that seemed to be his normal disposition, there was something stunned about his expression.

"Yuffie." Vincent looked over at Selphie, then back at her. "Your father wanted me to look for you."

Yuffie crossed her arms. "I'm a big girl. It isn't even dark out yet."

Vincent shook his head. "Not that. Something happened… to one of the workers at the agency. Mr. Kisaragi is going out, and he wanted you home."

"What happened?" Yuffie asked, momentarily forgetting that she was with Selphie, on a hill, at quickly approaching night. "Did someone poke themselves with all those clothing needles they leave laying around?" Yuffie joked, and was about to go on, when Vincent cut her off.

"No… she fell down the stairs and died," he said, point blank and expressionless with that deep voice of his.

Yuffie simultaneously felt herself blush at her tactless joke and mentally startle at that knowledge. "What was she doing so late at the agency?"

"I didn't ask questions."

"Oh. Right." _You sure aren't making this easy. _"Well, do you know who it was?"

"No," he said, and turned around and walked in the opposite direction towards his house. "Get home, Yuffie. It isn't safe out in the night," Vincent spoke over his shoulder without looking back at them. Yuffie longed to stick her tongue out at him, but lacked the energy after hearing that someone had died in a place she had just been only hours ago.

"Wow, that's some place you work at," Selphie mused. Yuffie made a noise in response, and she started walking up towards the house. Vincent had already disappeared.

"Wait."

Yuffie turned around to look at Selphie. "Aren't you sleeping over?" she asked, seeing Selphie wasn't following her.

"I better go actually," Selphie said, taking a step backwards. "I forgot that I was supposed to watch the kids tonight."

"Yeah right! Come on, you always do this. They will be fine without you, Selph."

Selphie scowled. "No, no. I mean, I was actually supposed to babysit and I completely forgot. I'm not _checking up _on them."

Yuffie sighed. "Okay. But isn't it a little dark out?"

"I'm not afraid," she said with a smile. "The moon will be out soon. See you later, okay?"

"Bye Selphie," Yuffie said, although by then Selphie was too far away to hear. She trekked the rest of the way to the house. Her father's car wasn't out in the driveway, and she assumed he'd already left for the agency for damage control. Yuffie tried the front door, which mercifully Godo or one of the cleaners left open for her. She locked it behind her and went up to her room, collapsing spread eagle on her bed, going over the events of her day at the agency and realized she would have to go in to work tomorrow, too, despite the worker's death on the stairs.

_I could make more money catering to Leon's needs, _she thought to herself as she slowly closed her eyes, thinking of her father's previous offer. _It couldn't be that hard. I was already a plain assistant and Leon wouldn't even let me stay in the room with him. He's probably low maintenance… good looking… money, and he's… he's…_

Yuffie slipped into dreaming, her thoughts broken off to float through a sleeping world.

* * *

"So, when did he get home last night? Did you see his car pull in?" Yuffie asked the next morning, driving toward a new day at the fun filled agency. She held onto the edges of Vincent's seat, looking around it at his face, which didn't betray much emotion, or even movement. She so longed to poke him and see what his reaction was. Not that she couldn't imagine it. Yuffie betted he would either ignore her or look at her and away. She had him _pegged. _

"Late," he said, his head going slightly to the side. "I saw his car pull in sometime in the morning."

"Morning morning or night morning?"

"…It must have been three o'clock..."

"Why do you have to make everything less fun?" Yuffie complained, slapping his seat. She was too afraid to actually touch him yet. "You could have actually answered in a casual way that doesn't make you seem so… so… so…"

"Three o'clock isn't 'morning morning' or 'night morning.' It's middle ground," Vincent responded, seeming tired with this banter. Gosh, was she really _that_ annoying to him, even after, what, nearly a year of chauffeur servitude? This quickly shut her up, along with the fact that they were already at the agency.

"Bye, Vince," Yuffie said cheerily, as if trying to make up for her unsatisfactory behavior. "See ya when I see ya."

Vincent nodded at her, a slight smile pulling at his pressed lips, and drove off around the corner. Yuffie watched him go and crossed her arms, ready to walk inside, when she saw something glinting on the ground around the same corner Vincent had turned. Curiosity striking her, she walked through the crowded sidewalk, keeping her eyes on whatever was sparking like that – it certainly couldn't have been a penny or a dime; not even those were _that_ shiny.

Yuffie turned the corner, right at the spot where she had seen something glinting, and realized it wasn't there. It had to have been a trick of her imagination. People jostled around her, trying to get around the person blocking their way, and once again, Yuffie turned to go inside, when she saw Vincent's car parked in the agency lot across the street. She squinted, trying to get a better look, when someone hit her square in the shoulder.

"Hey!" she called, and they replied back with a grumpy snarl, saying something like 'watch it.'" Yuffie huffed and walked through one of the side doors to the agency lobby, figuring it hadn't really been Vincent's car but someone else's. After all, it hadn't been the first time Yuffie jumped to conclusions like that.

Once she reached the lobby, she saw that the main stairway had been cut off with a yellow caution sign, and a couple of policemen were idling on the scene, talking amongst themselves. Yuffie frowned, wondering why the police would have to be there – that must have been where the worker died, but she didn't think there was going to be an actual inspection.

Mustering up her courage, Yuffie started to walk over to the police officers, fully realizing she was probably going to be late for work. Even so, Yuffie wanted to know about the woman who had died. After all, Vincent had provided absolutely no information, and now Yuffie was curious.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" someone asked, pulling her arm. Yuffie nearly fell backwards, but caught herself in time. She looked over her shoulder and glared at what she saw.

"You!" Yuffie said a little loudly, trying to yank her arm away from him.

"Me," said the man with red hair, grinning at her like he had won some kind of medal. "I really don't think you want to mess with them. They aren't talking to anybody, anyway."

"What's it to you?" Yuffie asked, turning to face him. "I bet they'll talk to me. I'm cuter than you, and I have a chest."

"I'd rather be sexy than cute," Axel said, crossing his arms and spitting out the word cute like it was a disgusting. "And how do you know they don't like men?"

"I thought you said you weren't gay."

"W-wait, don't be—"

"Bye, Axel," Yuffie said, grinning to herself and walking towards the police officers again. She could hear him muttering under his breath even as she left. The officers, upon seeing her approach, stopped talking and watched her warily.

_Time to turn up the old Yuffie charm, _she thought to herself, then smoothed her hair a bit and smiled brightly at them. "Hey guys! When did you all get here?" _Right. Try to act like we're all pals._

"What do you want?" one of the older ones asked blankly. "We're busy here, young lady."

_Damn. _"I just wanted to know what's going on. I'm really worried and all, and no one is telling me anything, my father, Godo Kisaragi…" Yuffie cringed inwardly at her shameful name dropping, "my father, he was too busy to tell me anything, and – and then, I…"

"There's nothing to see here, kiddo. One of the assistants allegedly fell down these stairs and died. We're here 'cause the shit's hit the fan."

"What do you mean?" Yuffie asked innocently. Actually, she really didn't know what he meant, but she was trying to act nonchalant about it.

One of the police officers, who had so far remained silent, glanced at her and said, "There's been murder accusations. Foul play. Some people think she didn't really fall."

His bright blue eyes were kind but serious, and slightly shaded by the mass of spiky blonde hair that pointed every which way. Yuffie didn't know him, but she got a good vibe from him. Not like the other officer who talked to her like she was five years old.

Yuffie's eyes widened, and this time it was sincere. "But how? What does that mean for the agency?"

"Nothing's been proven yet," the blonde said, glancing at his comrades. "It will be bad publicity. It'll probably be all over tomorrow's news since this is such a well known agency."

"Yeah," said the original officer who had been talking to her before, "think about what woulda happened if it had been one of those hoity toity _models_ who fell down the stairs and broke their neck. Now, that would have been some real deep doo doo there."

"Cid," the blonde said warningly – come to think of it, both the talking officers were blonde, though this 'Cid' was much older and not even half as nice looking as the kind one.

Yuffie turned her eyes towards the stairs. Even though everything had been covered up, they looked the same as they had yesterday. Obviously there was no body left, but she somehow expected blood, or maybe a limb lying around – something. Maybe she watched too many movies.

"So, are there any suspects?" Yuffie asked.

"Actually," Cid started, "from what evidence we got, it could only be someone from inside – well, there is a chance someone from outside could've—"

"Cid!" the blonde said, while the other officers, who had been basically ignoring the conversation, turned to glance at the three. "That's confidential. Sorry, um…" He trailed off, apparently not knowing what to call her, considering he didn't know her name.

"Yuffie Kisaragi? Yuffie Kisaragi?"

Yuffie spun around, looking around for the voice who was calling her. A young woman, dressed in white and black clothing that seemed to be reserved solely for the agency's secretaries or assistants, was half running, half walking towards her, a folder in hand. Yuffie cursed under her breath. Of course, she had forgotten all about work.

"You're needed. Mr. Leonhart is preparing for another shoot off agency, and since you're his new assistant… you are his new assistant, right?" the woman asked, looking desperate and leafing through the folder she had been carrying.

"Yeah, that's me," Yuffie said, mildly surprising herself. She couldn't remember when she decided to do it – but then again, it had only been her father's persistence holding her back before. "Thanks, guys!" Yuffie smiled at them. The police officers nodded in her direction and started spreading out around the staircase.

"Follow me," the woman said, looking relieved. "The car is waiting. Mr. Leonhart is already inside… oh…" She pressed a hand to her forehead, leading the way towards the front of the lobby where a fairly plain car was waiting. The seat was open in the back, and surely enough, Leon was sitting inside it, looking at the window, a hand propping his chin up. Yuffie slid inside, and he turned to look at her.

"You're going to have to be more punctual than that to work for me," he said, staring ahead and tapping his fingers lightly against the arm rest.

"I'm sorry Leo – Mr. Leonhart," Yuffie said, closing the car door. "I didn't even know I had this job until one minute ago."

"Whatever. Driver?"

The driver started forward, and they left the agency behind in a cloud of silence. No one said anything, and Yuffie could practically hear their breathing.

"What am I supposed to do as your assistant?" Yuffie questioned finally, ringing her hands in her lap. Why did he make her so _nervous?_

Leon turned to look at her, and Yuffie had the distinct feeling that he was not happy with this arrangement of her being his personal assistant. She attempted a laugh, but it came out sounding strange. "Let me guess," she started, trying to fill the silence. "Get your groceries? Set out your clothing? Give you water when you're thirsty?"

He gave her a long side glance, then considered her. "Something like that," he said with a smirk, as if he understood exactly how much he intimidated her. Yuffie cursed him, then Riku for causing her to see his creepy side that first night she saw him at the party. Leon turned his attention to the scenery passing them inside.

It didn't take too long to get to the beach they were to be taking the pictures at, which was a relief considering how much the silence had weighed down on her in the car alone with Leon. Well, Yuffie decided she would just have to resolve that sooner or later. No one could resist her for that long, right? Yuffie smiled to herself, thinking of this.

Leon got out of the car and Yuffie followed suit. Immediately he was whisked away to an area set up with a tent cover where various clothing racks were set up, along with hair stylists and makeup artists who immediately started their work on Leon. Yuffie stood by awkwardly, wondering what in the world she was supposed to be doing. She had the feeling that if she had worked her way up to this position as his personal assistant, then she would actually have a clue. As it happened, Godo had to force her here. Not that he had decided she would be solely Leon's assistant but…

"You. You're Mr. Leonhart's assistant, right?" someone asked Yuffie from behind her. She turned around and faced a pretty, crimson haired girl who was currently leaning over Leon, who had his eyes closed as someone else did something to his hair. "Can you go and get the Clarissa Pamoni brushes and some cold water for him?"

Yuffie nodded, despite not knowing what the _hell_ it was she wanted. Apparently Leon hadn't been joking about the water part. She sighed and walked in the opposite direction, her eyes darting around for someone she knew who could fill her in on where to find what she needed. The whole tent area was bustling about, some people setting up cameras as well as an area near the set to filter the pictures about to be taken. Some people were making up a table of food and water for the staff and models. And finally, some were lounging about, waiting for something to do, like Yuffie, and that was where she headed.

A blonde, perhaps the same build as Riku's friend, Sora, stood near the food table, obviously with nothing to do – and Yuffie _had_ noticed him at the agency before. Maybe _he_ could help her.

"Hey, do you know where the Larissa Spamonee… er, brushes are?" Yuffie asked, hoping she got the name right.

"Clarissa Pamoni?" the boy asked, smiling slightly. "Uh, sure. Any of the makeup artists should have them."

"Oh…" Yuffie wondered why she hadn't thought of that. They certainly sounded like they would be used for hair or makeup, anyway. "Thanks."

"Sure," the boy responded, and Yuffie smiled at him. So far, he was probably the nicest person she had met in the "business" who hadn't been an ass to her, and she'd only spoken a few words to him.

"Yuffie Kisaragi, right?" the boy asked as Yuffie started turning away.

"Yeah!" she said, surprised. The boy smiled again.

"Axel's been talking about you. He's not exactly a fan… a fan of your dad, anyway," he said, then seemed to regret it. "Er – my name is Roxas. I'm a model, actually, but…"

Yuffie shrugged. "I figured that much about Axel. But actually, I can't stick around – I'm on official assistant business." She smiled apologetically and waved, then went to get a glass of water at the table. Poor Roxas, having to stick around Axel. She laughed to herself and retreated to the makeup section, water in hand, and found someone to give her the brushes, which turned out to look like any regular blush brushes. Go figure.

With both things in hand, Yuffie went back to Leon's makeup artist, who apparently had found her own Marissa Bologna brushes. Leon was still in the chair however, and Yuffie gave him the water.

"Thanks," he said, and set it down at a table near him. Yuffie didn't reply and stood next to him as he was worked on. She didn't think he looked any different with what they were putting on him – it seemed like some sort of bronzer and something on his lips. His hair, however, was coming on nicely, but then again it always looked nice.

"I think I'm done with you, Mr. Leonhart," the girl said, putting away her brushes. "You took a little too long for the brushes, Yuffie, but at least you got the water." Yuffie started to apologize, but she held her hand up. "It's okay, I know you're new. I'm Kairi, by the way. Kairi Olander."

"Yuffie Kisaragi, but I guess you already knew that," Yuffie replied, smiling slightly.

"Mr. Leonhart! Two minutes!" someone shouted at the camera station. He stood up and nodded at Yuffie.

"Come on," he said, and went over to the dressing station. Yuffie waved to Kairi and followed him. He stopped by the racks and pulled his shirt off. It took all of Yuffie's will power to keep her jaw shut and her eyes trained off his abs, which were lean and lightly defined and absolutely…

"Gorgeous," someone said approvingly. Yuffie glanced over and jumped when she realized someone had been standing right next to her without her even noticing. The dark haired woman next to her handed Leon what appeared to be the bottom of a wetsuit for scuba diving. Leon took them and started taking off his pants, and suddenly Yuffie started feeling very flustered.

The dark haired woman looked at her pointedly, and Yuffie didn't catch the hint. She stared back at her, and was about to open her mouth when the woman spoke instead.

"You're supposed to cover him," she said coldly, and Yuffie didn't know how to react but to grab the sheet that was conveniently draped on the rack. She met Leon's eyes, expecting to see annoyance, but he kept his emotions schooled from his face. Maybe he felt the woman's remark had been enough of a sting. Yuffie scoffed to herself as Leon placed himself against the rack to cover behind him. She was a lot stronger than that.

Yuffie held the sheet up to his shoulders, and she could hear Leon pulling off his underwear and replace them with the wetsuit bottom. Before she could ask if he was done, Leon pulled the sheet down from her hands and walked towards the cameramen. She picked up the clothes he left on the ground and straightened up, wondering if she should follow him. The dark haired woman was watching her with a look of disdain and started after Leon after she turned her eyes from Yuffie.

Yuffie felt annoyance spark inside her and walked after her, folding the clothes as she neared Leon. What nerve the woman had! She didn't even know what she'd done, but apparently this woman had a predetermined dislike for her. Yuffie tried to turn her attention from the woman, though, to watch what Leon was doing. It seemed the director of the shoot was giving him some sort of guidance, though it wasn't just to him. A strikingly pretty, sandy haired blonde girl was standing next to him, dressed in a very skimpy bathing suit, listening intently and casting glances at Leon every few seconds.

This guidance didn't take long, and the two of them started walking towards the waves. Leon kneeled down onto one knee, and the pretty girl got very close to him, straddling his knee while standing and staring at him with intense longing. Leon seemed to return this look quite easily. Yuffie felt her jaw fall open momentarily at this turn of events, although her surprise didn't last long when she realized that dark haired woman was staring at her with a smirk.

"Do you have a _problem?_ Is there something on my face?" Yuffie asked venomously, and the woman looked away, the smug look disappearing. She didn't want to make enemies, but she was suddenly very irritated.

Trying to calm herself, she looked back, watching the two move seamlessly with each other as the photographer clicked away, capturing each moment. The girl was now laying in the sand, and Leon was on top of her, his lips on her neck. Yuffie felt embarrassed watching this intimacy, especially seeing the girl's look of ecstasy – and wondered if it was real or an act. Their position shifted; now the girl was on top, on all fours, and Leon was sitting up under her, watching with a half smirk. Somehow they managed to make everything look classy, despite the sexual positions.

They continued working together for the next five minutes, the final position consisting of them both being on their knees in front of each other, pressed into one another, with Leon's forehead touching hers, their eyes closed.

Yuffie could have barfed just then. When the director called a rap, Leon and the girl separated, and the dark haired woman was no where in Yuffie's vicinity. She relaxed and Leon again went over to talk to the director.

"Need some water?" someone said from behind her, and Yuffie nearly jumped out of her skin. What was it with people sneaking up on her?

The boy from earlier, Roxas, stood next to her, holding a pitcher and a glass. He motioned with his chin to Leon. "He's probably all hot and bothered now, even if it was technically fake." Roxas was joking, of course, but Yuffie felt her irritation mounting. She forced a smile and took the pitcher and cup, and poured the cold liquid into the glass.

"Thanks," she said, watching Leon and the girl making small talk. "So, do you do this often? Pose like this, I mean?"

"Sometimes," Roxas responded, "but my looks are more boyish than Leon's. That's what they tell me anyway. It might be a long time before I'm doing scenes like _that." _

"Hm," Yuffie responded, looking him over. He was boyish looking, in an adorable way, and his build was more slender than Leon's, too. She couldn't imagine him on an ad with a girl the way Leon might be.

"He's looking this way," Roxas said to her. "He probably needs that water right about now. I wouldn't get on his bad side, either."

Yuffie glanced at him, wondering why a complete stranger was talking to her so easily. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "I always heard he was way more high maintenance than the rest of us, what with him being Godo's favorite and all."

Yuffie was glaring at him without realizing it, and he looked at her with surprise. She flushed and tried to clear her face. "Sorry, I better give this to him. Thanks again."

She left him, thinking about what Roxas said, and how it had made her feel. It had to be that woman who had started her annoyance, and Roxas had pushed her patience mentioning her father. Besides, Leon didn't seem to like being Godo's favorite, nor did he seem to be high maintenance. The latter Yuffie would eventually find out, however, since she was stuck with him.

"Water?" she asked when she reached him, and he took it without a word and took a sip. His 'coworker' was nowhere to be seen. "So, what is this shoot for anyways?"

"Cologne," Leon responded simply, setting the glass down somewhere. "I need my clothes. Do you have them?"

"I have them right –" Yuffie cut herself off, realizing she wasn't carrying his clothes anymore. "Hold on, I just had them…"

"Never mind," he said. "I'll just wear this. I don't feel like sticking around."

"No, no, I can't – just wait. I'll go find them."

Yuffie turned from him without waiting for an answer and ran towards the area she'd been at with Roxas, who had left, and found she'd set them down on the ground. Frowning, she picked them up and in a stroke of genius brought the sheet, too, so he could change. Yuffie half ran over to Leon, wondering how she had forgotten the clothes in the first place. But, the fact that Leon hadn't demanded she go find them had to mean he wasn't high maintenance. That, or he was just rich enough that he didn't even need to wear clothes twice.

"Here," she said, thrusting them at him, and she held the sheet up. There was nothing, however, for him to back into. "Um, what about –"

"Just hold it up in front," he responded as he pulled his shirt on. Yuffie nodded and held it up, and he quickly and efficiently changed into his regular clothes. Once he finished, he started walking towards the car, which was waiting for both of them. Yuffie followed, thinking that this little outing had taken a much shorter time than she had thought it would.

They were on the road in a couple minutes. Once again, Leon was absolutely quiet, but Yuffie was determined to break that.

"Leon, you know what happened last night? With the worker dying?"

Leon's reaction was visible. He seemed pale and startled. "What about it?"

Yuffie stared at him. "Who was it that died?"

He looked away at his hands. "Didn't you wonder why Kreya wasn't the one here helping with the clothes?"

Now Yuffie was the one who paled. "It… it wasn't Kreya, was it?" She had only met Kreya the day before, but she had liked her, and Riku obviously had, too.

Leon nodded and turned to look at her. "But she didn't fall. I knew her. She was as far from clumsy or absent minded as she could be."

"Everyone has accidents," Yuffie said quietly.

He looked away, obviously unconvinced. "Not her."

Yuffie looked out the window, shaken. Project Keep Silence Away had been a temporary success, but now Yuffie was the one who let the quiet come, and it was she who stared out the window, lost in her thoughts.

* * *

_All right, the third chapter! Thanks everyone immensely for your reviews. By the way, I'm not a model, and I don't work in a modeling agency, so some of the stuff that goes on in this story is made up. Also, don't forget to review! It won't take too long to do it, and it makes me feel good to know if people like the story. _


	4. Chapter 4

Following Dawn  
-IV-

Yuffie stepped through the back door of her home, looking around expectantly for her father's face to appear in her vision. She knew he hadn't been at work today, and therefore he was must likely holing up here. Yuffie took a few steps into the house, peeking into open doors, and when he didn't materialize after a few minutes, she realized she was alone. At least she wouldn't have to own up to becoming Leon's assistant until later on.

The whole house was dead silent. Somehow, it was unsettling to Yuffie. Normally, something was making noise; the coffeemaker, or a T.V. someone forgot to turn off - but not even the house maid was in today to operate anything like that. She tried to disperse the blanket of quiet by humming to herself, but even that just seemed to echo off the walls, providing her with false companionship.

Yuffie headed up to her room, her feet barely making a sound against the carpeting, and promptly started changing out of her work clothing and into something more comfortable. But every move she made made her feel like the house had eyes and was watching her, observing her, which was strange for Yuffie considering how often she was home alone, anyway.

To ease her discomfort, Yuffie quickly grabbed her remote control and pressed the power button, and the T.V. on her nightstand turned on, filling the room with comforting sounds. Feeling slightly better, Yuffie stretched and started walking down the stairs when she saw something that made her stop dead in her tracks.

The front door to the house was hanging wide open.

Adrenaline spiked her heart into pumping irregularly. She knew she hadn't come through the front door to leave it open like that, and if her father had come home, he would have gone through the back door, too, and Vincent would never leave the door unclosed that way. The wind caused the door to sway slightly, back and forth, back and forth, until finally it slammed shut. She jumped and lowered herself down on the stairs, trying to clear her mind and not panic as the gripped the railing.

Why else would the door be open if someone wasn't in the house?

Yuffie raised herself up slowly and walked down the stairs, trying her hardest now to make as little noise as possible. Why would anyone want to come into her house? And who had left the door unlocked? Godo was obsessed with his material possessions, and he had a lot of them. He would never forget to lock it so that anyone could just walk in and steal them.

Yuffie's adrenaline made every noise in the house magnified one hundred fold in her ears. Every creak the floor made as she took a step made her cringe. Every shadow appeared as a bloodthirsty murderer in her imagination.

But there was nothing as she reached the kitchen and slowly pulled a knife out of its holder, pressing it hard against her exposed thigh, testing its sharpness. Yuffie winced and pulled it away and observed the red, liquid line left behind by the pressure. She was going to really regret this if in reality, this nothing at all, and she was simply letting her fear get the best of her. Nevertheless, the news of Kreya's apparent murder had left her on edge.

She was about to check the grand room when she heard someone behind her. How hadn't she heard them? Before she could move, something had covered her eyes and grabbed her waist. Yuffie forced her scream to die as she whirled around and sunk the knife into whoever was behind her. Once she saw who it was, it was already too late.

"Riku!" she gasped, her heart pounding in her throat as her hands flew to her mouth. Yuffie looked at him in horror. His face mirrored her own, his eyes wide. Both their gazes trailed down to where the knife was buried conspicuously in his side, red blood blooming against his shirt. Yuffie grabbed his shoulders as he swayed, but she didn't know if it was from shock or blood loss.

"Yuffie… shit…" he murmured, falling against the oven. His smile was weak. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"I p-panicked! I thought you were a burglar!" Yuffie said, her voice trembling. "I-I'm sorry. Oh my god, I'm sorry!" Her hands were all over him, checking him, as if that would help. "I have to call Vincent. The ambulance would take too long."

"Vincent?" Riku echoed, his face twisted in pain. Yuffie grabbed the phone and frantically dialed the numbers of his cell phone. After one ring, he picked up.

"Hel—"

"Vincent!" Yuffie said, her hand pressed to her mouth. "I stabbed Riku. He's hurt. He needs to go to the hospital, I think-"

"You what?"

"Vincent, please!" Yuffie cried, nearly in tears. "Hurry!"

"I'm on my way."

Yuffie hung up the phone and looked at Riku. "Can you walk?" she asked. He nodded, and Yuffie made him walk in front of her. His shirt and pants were covered in blood. Yuffie felt herself wavering, the sight of the blood overtaking her. She hated blood, the sight of it, the taste and smell. She forced her eyes to stay on Riku as he walked slowly to the front door.

"Burglar, huh?" Riku said, and the knife was still sticking out of him, ugly and hard. Yuffie couldn't remember if it was better to leave a weapon like that in or to pull it out of the person. She didn't want to take any chances. She would let Vincent handle it.

In two minutes, he had pulled up and was helping Riku into the backseat. Yuffie slid in next to him as he breathed in sharply as he sat down, disturbing his wound. Horrible thoughts were running through Yuffie's mind. What if she killed him? What if Riku were to die, or be seriously injured? What if she had to go to _jail?_

"Everything will be fine," Vincent said reassuringly, as if he could read Yuffie's thoughts. "Tell me what happened."

"The front door was open. I thought someone was inside. And then I walked into the kitchen to grab a knife – but Riku grabbed me and I panicked and whirled around and…" she trailed off. She was such an idiot.

"What were you doing in the house, Riku?" Vincent asked as he drove carefully.

Riku turned to look at Yuffie. "I wanted to talk to her before she left but I missed her. I followed her home… I wanted to surprise her, but I guess I won't try that one again."

"You're such a creep, Riku. If you were normal this never would have happened," Yuffie moaned, knowing perfectly well it was immature of her.

"I get that a lot," Riku replied, his face looking like it had broken into a cold sweat.

"Are you okay?" Yuffie finally asked after minutes of just listening to Riku's and Vincent's breathing. At least Riku _was _breathing.

"I'll be fine," he replied after a moment, though his voice was light and weak. Yuffie felt her heart beating hard afresh. Thankfully, they were already in front of the hospital. Vincent helped Riku out of the car while Yuffie ran ahead of them to the emergency room reception area. By the time Vincent and Riku had reached the doors, there was a stretcher ready, and he was quickly wheeled down to a room.

Yuffie turned to look at Vincent, who seemed perfectly calm and composed. She wondered if he had human emotions at all, sometimes. "What should we do?" Yuffie asked, completely lost as she stared around the ER. They were basically the only ones there. Only a single receptionist was working, who quickly walked over and gave Yuffie a bunch of papers to sign.

"But I'm not… I'm his friend," Yuffie replied awkwardly, taking the papers. The receptionist looked at her.

"Fill out all you can and call a family member in the mean time," she replied simply and went back to her desk.

"Great," Yuffie said with a scowl, plopping down in one of the seats nearby, grateful that Riku was being taken care of, at least. She took out her cell phone out while Vincent stood by himself and stared out the window. Her phonebook popped up and she looked through her list, hoping Riku's house number was there. By some stroke of luck, it was. She dialed the number quickly, dreading the call she had to make. Should she admit what happened, or just tell his mother he was in the emergency room?

The phone rang three times before anyone picked up.

"Hello?" a woman's voice said.

"Ms… Ms. Sakamoto?" Yuffie said timidly.

"Yes?"

"I'm Riku's friend. He's… he's hurt."

Suddenly, the voice became a pitch higher. "What…?"

"He was… stabbed. Accidentally. But he's in the ER at Lakeview Hospital and I have a bunch of papers he needs filled out-"

"I'll be right there."

The phone on the other end hung up. Yuffie sighed and snapped her phone shut, then surveyed the papers she had been given. The only line she could sign was his name.

"Do you think I'll get in trouble, Vincent?" Yuffie asked quietly, giving up on the papers. She half hoped he hadn't heard her. But he had, and turned to look at her.

"I don't know. It was an accident, after all. Not to mention that he went into your house without your permission at all. It could be considering breaking and entering."

Yuffie sighed and closed her eyes and stayed that way for the next fifteen minutes until Riku's mother arrived, nearly falling asleep in the process.

"Where's Riku?" a voice asked at the entrance door. Yuffie opened her eyes and stared at the woman who had mothered Riku. She was tall and slender, and absolutely gorgeous (though she expected no less, considering Riku's looks and profession) and had the look of a woman who got what she wanted, when she wanted. Her hair was dark and her makeup was bright and flashy. The woman walked over to Yuffie, who by now was the only person in the room. She didn't know where Vincent had gone off to.

"He's still in one of the rooms," Yuffie replied, standing up quickly. "I'm Yuffie, by the way. I work with Riku."

"How is he hurt?" the woman asked impatiently, her eyes bearing into hers. Yuffie took a deep breath and was about to explain, when a nurse with a clipboard came into the reception area.

"Is a family member of Riku Sakamoto present?" the nurse asked, and Riku's mother left Yuffie and followed the nurse, leaving Yuffie wondering if she could come as well or whether she should just leave. Yuffie sat back down, realizing she had forgotten to give his mother the papers.

"Have a nice sleep?" a deep voice asked from beside her. Yuffie looked up at Vincent and sighed in relief.

"I thought you left me," she said and moved over a seat so he could sit down. He didn't. "Riku's mother came. She's with Riku now. I really hope he's okay…" Vincent nodded.

"I'm sure he'll be fine. Riku's a tough kid."

"How do you know? Do you know him?" Yuffie asked, and Vincent seemed caught off guard for a moment. He was silent for a few moments.

"Not well," he finally said, and left it at that. Yuffie frowned and studied him while he looked off in the other direction. He was quite the secretive one, wasn't he?

Before Yuffie could make a reply, her cell phone vibrated once, twice in her pocket. She pulled it out and stared down at her new text message.

_Need a few errands run. Pick up dry cleaning at Dry Della's and then stop at Harven's to get the Yoo shoes I ordered. Leave at front door. _

Yuffie sighed and stood up. She assumed Leon wanted it done _now_, but she really hated leaving Riku here, and if he explained to his mother what happened without Yuffie to apologize – well, she would feel even worse.

"Vincent, I gotta go. Actually… I need the car. Is there any way…?" Yuffie said, her voice pleading. The thought of displeasing Leon scared her.

"I'm leaving, anyway. Would it be suitable for you to drop me off?" he questioned, and Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"Sure, it would be _suitable_," she said teasingly, even if she didn't put her heart into it. "Let's go. I can't wait to drive _you_ around for once."

"This should be an experience," Vincent said, the corners of his mouth turning up into what appeared to be a smile. Yuffie beamed.

* * *

After thoroughly scaring Vincent with her abysmal driving skills, Yuffie had dropped him off at home and had successfully picked up both Leon's dry cleaning and shoes (which were hideous, but Yuffie assumed they were considered 'couture').

Leon hadn't needed to give her his address yesterday after the photo shoot; Godo always kept a roster list of his models and all their contact information. Yuffie had looked up his address previously out of curiosity and found he lived in a very nice area of town, although it was as far from her own house as could possibly be without living in a different city. It took Yuffie about twenty minutes to get there and into his development.

It didn't seem to have a name like some developments did, although the condominiums there were very nice. Most of them were made of beige stone and bright white windows with perfectly trimmed lawns. Leon's was no different, Yuffie observed as she pulled into his driveway. There was no other car in the driveway, but surely his three car garage had all his vehicles inside.

Yuffie grabbed his suits and his box of shoes and walked up to the back door and placed the shoes down, the suits on his doorknob by the hanger. She knocked on the door, just because she felt strange just leaving this here when he could come get it, should he be home – plus, Yuffie was extremely curious about him. He was an enigma to her, but in a different way from Vincent, and it bothered her. She wanted to figure him out and his strange behavior, and catching him at home would shed some light on that situation (at least Yuffie thought so). Not even today's previous incident could weigh down _that_ preoccupation of hers.

When three minutes had passed and no one answered the door, Yuffie knocked again, paused, and with mounting trepidation, tried the doorknob. Surprisingly, it swung open easily. Yuffie felt a wave of dizziness at the thought of what she was about to do, but she gathered his things and took them inside, anyway. After all, if you didn't want people to go inside, you wouldn't leave the door unlocked, right? Yuffie would do him a favor and lock it on her way out. She laughed to herself, though it was a mix of excitement and nervousness, thinking he could be home any minute. Considering how busy he was, though, that might not be true at all.

Yuffie closed the door behind her and deposited his things on the table next to the entrance and observed her surroundings. The entrance had a polished stone floor which led to the kitchen on the right, and the living room on the left, which was carpeted with freshly vacuumed and flawless cream carpeting. Everything inside looked like it had been designed by a professional. Even with her own unschooled eyes she could pick out the color schemes and the little touches around the rooms that she knew Leon probably couldn't do on his own. He didn't seem like the type to have a creative bone in his body, except maybe when it came to modeling.

Strangely enough, even with all the beautiful furniture and decorations, she couldn't spot any personal touches. She didn't see any magazines or photographs or even plates in the sink or in the living room (maybe Leon wasn't a T.V. dinner sort of guy). Yuffie walked through the condo, which was actually fairly spacious, and stopped at what she assumed was Leon's bedroom. At least in here it was more lived in than the other rooms. The bed was unmade and there was a pair of pajama bottoms hung over the door to the bathroom. Yuffie checked over her shoulder and listened to see if anyone was pulling in and when she heard nothing, she walked over to the bathroom and glanced inside. Some shaving cream was on the sink and there was soap in the shower, but other than that it also was spotless.

_You can tell a lot about a person by their medicine cabinet. _Yuffie remembered one of her high school friends mentioning that to her before, and though she couldn't say if that was true, Yuffie reached up and opened the mirror. Her jaw dropped as she saw rows of medicine inside – but not just regular aspirin. There were tons of prescription drugs inside. Her heart raced a bit as she reached to look at one, but she was either clumsy or a little too eager. It fell into the sink and the cap opened, spilling the pills all over the sink.

"Shit," Yuffie muttered and quickly tried stuffing them back in the container when she heard the unmistakable sound of a garage door opening. Yuffie had never felt more fear in her life, not even when she had thought someone was in the house. With hands shaking, she quickly shoved the rest of the pills in and closed the mirror before running as quickly and quietly as she could through his house, biting down on her inner cheek as hard as she could. This was _not_ good.

What should she do? Pretend like she had just been dropping his things off? Hide? Go through the front door while he went through the back?

Yuffie didn't have a choice in the matter – she had waited too long. The back door opened, and Yuffie dove into the nearest closet, leaving the door less than an inch open. Her heart sped up, her reaction time shortened by the insane amount of adrenaline she could feel spreading from her chest to her limbs, beating quickly through her veins. She could hear him easily; hear him walking around in the kitchen. After a moment she heard nothing, then paper ripping. Yuffie internally prayed he would leave soon, just go so she could leave, too. But something was off.

He was walking around, but with purpose. But he couldn't have noticed anything out of place, could he?

Soon his footsteps started walking towards the closet. Yuffie wrapped her arms around herself out of fear; she felt like she could have a heart attack at any second. But then his footsteps stopped, but Yuffie couldn't guess where. She froze, and willed her heart to stop with it. Anything would be better than being caught.

When he started walking again, Yuffie slowly let out her breath with relief. She didn't have the feeling long, however, as the closet door was yanked open and her arm with it, her scream freezing in her throat. Leon slammed her against the wall next to the closet forcefully and Yuffie cried out, stunned. She couldn't stop the frustrated, fearful tears from welling in her eyes. His face was frightening and completely consumed with hatred and anger.

"What the fuck are you doing in my house?" he said angrily, his hands squeezing her shoulders to the point of numbness. Yuffie squirmed and shook her head rapidly, pressing her mouth together to stop the sob that was sure to escape. She cursed herself over and over in her mind, telling herself what an idiot she was to ever step foot in his house. Yuffie was trembling like a leaf, and she was sure she would fall over if Leon let go.

"It's you, isn't it," Leon said, his voice going from angry to dead quiet, as if he was trying to control himself with a barely withheld rage. "You've been sending me the notes. Who else could have had the resources to do it? Who else could have had the reason? _Huh_?" His voice raised again and Yuffie shook her head, her legs giving out under her. He let her fall and Yuffie shook her head again. She didn't understand what was going on.

"I don't know what you're _talking about_!" Yuffie finally said, her voice loud but shaky, her arms wrapping around herself. "I'm _sorry_, okay? I'm sorry I walked in here at all!"

Leon shook his head at her and looked like he was ready to spit on her. He turned his back and yanked open a drawer in the kitchen then dropped a bundle of notes at her feet. "Look familiar?" he asked, kneeling down next to her, his face slightly red. He dragged a hand through his hair and laughed humorlessly. "I can't believe this. Someone like you making me react this way. You're just a _girl_."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about," Yuffie spat, her pride bruised, letting her fear and turn into anger. "Those are not mine. I've never seen them in my life."

Leon punched the wall next to her face and Yuffie jumped. He was on the floor next to her but he was leaning over her, his hand still on the wall next to her. "Then what the _fuck_ are you doing in my house then? Just leaving me another note, right?"

"No!" Yuffie screamed, finally gaining use of her body and trying to push him off her. "I wanted to drop off your things! The door was already _open_! I was curious about you, okay?! I just wanted to look inside! It was obviously a _mistake_!"

Leon dropped his hand and stood up, turning his back on her. Yuffie looked at the notes at her feet. They were all white place cards, but they were turned over. She couldn't see what was written on them. Yuffie dropped her head on her hands and took a deep, ragged breath. She wanted out of his house, and she wanted out now.

"I just want to go home."

"You really aren't the one?" Leon asked quietly, but not with suppressed anger. She couldn't discern what she heard in his voice, but Yuffie chose not to respond. She slowly stood up, leaving the notes where they were, and walked towards the door, still shaking despite herself.

"I came in here to learn about you. I know I shouldn't have," Yuffie said, forcing her voice not to waver, her hand on the doorknob, preparing to lose her last shred of dignity. "You were interesting to me. I never met anyone like you, or any of the people I've met working as an assistant. I just wanted to peek around…I was just curious. I didn't mean to do anything bad. I'm really sorry." Even though it was embarrassing to admit it, she wanted to tell him so he didn't think she had really done it. Duty done, Yuffie turned the doorknob and was about to step outside when he called her back. She turned around and forced herself to meet his eyes.

"I'm… sorry. I overreacted. I know an excuse isn't good enough…" he trailed off and slowly leaned over to pick up the notes. "But you should look at these. It might explain my behavior."

Yuffie cautiously stepped back inside and took the notes, but simply stared at them. He walked over to her slowly, as if trying to show he wasn't going to hurt her, and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Did I hurt you?" he asked quietly, his voice completely different as he pulled aside the shoulder of her shirt and pulled his thumb over the marks he found there, gently and carefully, as if she was a something holy. Yuffie hissed at the stinging and pulled back, nearly dropping the notes in surprise. He drew back, looking embarrassed, spell broken.

"I'm fine," Yuffie replied, shaken, and somewhat embarrassed herself. To break the awkwardness that had surfaced between them, she pulled the rubber band off the notes and turned it over, observing the printed writing.

_I KNOW YOUR SECRET. I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE. I KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE TO CUT TO SPILL THE MOST BLOOD ON YOUR PULSING NECK. _

Yuffie felt sick to her stomach as she read through the notes, each one becoming more explicit and disgusting than the one preceding it. Each one also contained a detail that clearly stated they knew every inch of Leon's house and hinted at things Yuffie didn't know she whether she wanted to think about – sexual things.

By the time she was finished reading, Leon was sitting at the kitchen table, appearing as if he was deep in though. Yuffie placed the rubber bands over the card and dropped them next to him.

"When did you start getting these?" Yuffie asked incredulously. "They're _disgusting_. Have you gone to the police?"

"A month or so ago," Leon responded, sliding the notes away. "The police can't do anything about it. They can't find a print, and whoever is doing this never actually breaks into my house – at least they not until today. There was a new one before I found you on the counter. They must have opened my door, somehow, without actually breaking it open."

"Oh my god," Yuffie breathed, goose bumps rising on her arms. "Why would anyone _do_ this?"

Leon shook his head, staring at the table. "When I found you in the closet, I thought you'd been doing this. It made sense. Why else would you be in my house but to leave it there?"

"What I said before was true," Yuffie said, although she wished she hadn't. "I would never do anything like this."

Leon paused a few moments, then replied, "I know."

Yuffie sighed and sunk down into one of the seats across from him, ready to say something consoling, when she suddenly remembered she had left Riku at the hospital and hadn't seen him since earlier in the day. It had to be at least seven o'clock already.

She nearly jumped out of her seat and said quickly, "I'm sorry, but I have to go. I have to visit my friend in the hospital; actually it's Riku."

Leon looked alarmed and stood up, as well. "What happened?" he asked. Yuffie shook her head.

"It's nothing to do with… with anything like…" Yuffie could guess what he was thinking, but she was too embarrassed to go into detail to tell him the truth. "He got hurt. I hurt him, and I never got to explain to his mother, or see if he's okay… I'm sorry," Yuffie said, retreating to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow at work."

Leon nodded slowly, studying her, and Yuffie was already out of the door and in her car before she could hear what he would have to say about it.

* * *

Breaking and entering is sort of a running theme in this chapter, huh? The plot is picking up, now. Yuffie and Leon's relationship changed completely. Things are getting creepy! Haha.

I don't know why, but whenever I read back on my chapter it seems weird. I don't know about rushed... maybe rushed, I'm not sure. Something weird. It's probably just me, though.

Please, please review and tell me what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

Following Dawn  
-V-

The hallways of the white washed hospital were nearly empty at this time during visiting hours. The windows she passed on her way to the room Riku was residing in were a clear, deep blue; the color that was not quite night, yet, but neither was it dusk. The color of twilight.

Yuffie looked down at the tiny slip of paper she held in her hands with the number _304 _scrawled over it with pencil. In her mental state, she hadn't trusted herself to remember it once she reached the right floor. She glanced up from the slip of paper to the door sign which read the same numbers on the paper, but the door was closed.

Taking a deep breath, Yuffie turned the doorknob and stepped inside.

The first thing she saw was Riku sitting up in bed, shirtless, with a clean white bandage wrapped around his side and over his shoulder. The bed next to his was empty, and the window in his room wasn't covered by the blinds. She could see the city lights and the dark sky shining through it, reflecting on the black face of the T.V. screen.

"So you came," Riku said, looking infinitely better than he had after she stabbed him. His face had color in it and he seemed to be breathing fine. Yuffie smiled and walked over to him, sitting carefully on the edge of his bed.

"I'm so sorry, Riku," Yuffie said, resting her palms on her knees. "I just… I don't know what to say. I feel like an idiot."

Riku stifled his laughter. "I'm fine, now. It was an honest mistake. We'll be laughing about this in a couple of years." He sighed and rested his hand lightly on her arm when he saw that his comment hadn't taken any effect on her. "Seriously, don't worry about it."

Yuffie sighed. "What does your mom think?"

"Well, after she got over the initial shock and worry that I might keel over, she thought it was hilarious."

"_What?"_

"Yeah," Riku said, a grin tugging at his lips. "She's kind of insane if you hadn't noticed. That's just her way, though. She takes everything lightly, too lightly sometimes. Just the whole situation apparently struck her as laughable."

"I'm glad she's not mad, then." Yuffie wondered to herself why she even cared, considering she had never met the woman once in her life before that incident. "When do you get out of here anyway?"

"A couple days, I think. You know, the damage wasn't as bad as it looked. I'll probably have a scar there, but that's about it. I don't know when I'll be back in the agency, though. I'm sure your dad will understand."

"Hopefully," Yuffie said, rolling her eyes. "With him, you never know."

* * *

The following morning was chaos.

Yuffie realized this as she pushed her way through the throngs of reporters that were standing outside the building, throwing questions this way and that to anyone who seemed intent on entering the building – that is, anyone who worked there. Yuffie ignored them and said goodbye to Vincent, who mouthed 'good luck' and drove off, leaving her on her own to deal with the crowd.

Repeating 'no comment, no comment' was actually rather effective, and Yuffie was inside the building in a matter of minutes, when before that simple task had seemed daunting. It appeared they couldn't enter the building. Yuffie sighed to herself and pulled her shoulder bag more closely to her as she walked through the second set of doors to the lobby. The yellow ribbons separating one half the staircase from the other half was now gone, but the same police officers still seemed to be milling about, though this time actively speaking to the employees.

Yuffie wondered whether she could slink away without any of them seeing her, but that hope was quickly crushed as the officer from the other day, the blonde, approached her with a pad of paper in hand.

"Yuffie Kisaragi?" Yuffie nodded. "I'm Officer Strife. I need to ask you a few questions. There's nothing to be alarmed about; this is simply routine."

"I'm guessing it was decided Kreya _was _murdered, then?"

He nodded his head slightly, then quickly proceeded on to business.

"Where were you on the night of June 17th?" the officer asked. Yuffie closed her eyes, trying to think.

"I was… I was… I think I was with my friend, Selphie. We were at the park, and then Vincent came and told me what happened. I spent most of the afternoon with her before that," Yuffie replied, finally remembering.

"Can I have her full name and number for verification?"

"Selphie Tilmitt, and her cell number is…" Yuffie relayed the information easily.

"A couple more things, then. …Did you kill Kreya Duble?" His voice was blunt, but his eyes were probing.

Yuffie's jaw dropped. "No, I didn't!" she exclaimed, completely taken aback by his question.

"Thank you. By any chance, have you seen Riku Sakamoto at the agency?"

Yuffie froze. "He won't be here today. He's in the hospital, actually, and he should be released in the next few days."

Officer Strife raised an eyebrow. "The hospital?" Yuffie could almost see the gears working in his mind, and she frowned.

"Yes, he was at my house yesterday, and he got hurt."

He nodded once, scribbled a few notes on his pad of paper, and nodded again at her. "Thank you for your time. If you hear anything, please let us know."

"No leads, then?"

He smiled strangely at her. "I'm afraid that's confidential." Yuffie watched his retreating back and crossed her arms, feeling unsettled. He was a perfectly nice man, she could tell, but fiercely devoted to his job. All his questions had been mechanical and not personable in the slightest. And what was with that smile he had given her?

"You've already been interviewed, hm? They're like vultures. Somehow they just know when fresh meat's around," a familiar voice whispered near her ear. Yuffie jumped and spun around, already expecting the person who she had previously least expected.

"Axel," Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Do you have any idea how creepy that was?"

"They haven't found me yet. But I'm planning on evading them," Axel said smugly, but she could hear a note of tension in his voice. "Honestly. My business is none of their business whatsoever." His face darkened slightly as he stood next to her, his arms crossed.

"That isn't suspicious at all," Yuffie said, turning to face him. "Why don't you just get it over with?"

Axel danced lightly around her question with one of his own. "Did you hear about the fire?"

"What fire?"

"The one that never started."

Yuffie looked at him with concern. Was he starting to lose his mind? "There can't be a fire if it never started."

"They put it out first, before it got too big. It was just behind this building. It was close enough that if it had gotten out of control, it would have messed this place up big time, but far enough away that they don't know if it was intentional… meant for this building or the one behind us… and they don't know how it started." Axel raised his eyebrows. "A mystery."

"You're lying to me, aren't you?"

"I'm not," he protested, holding two fingers up. "Scout's honor. … But, I have to go before they chase me down. Leon wants you, by the way."

Before she could reply, he slipped away down a staircase, and Yuffie turned away towards the elevator, her mind troubled. What if Axel had been telling the truth? All of it was too strange to be coincidence, right? She sighed as she passed the staircase. Normally, she would have gone up the stairs, but she didn't know that she felt comfortable yet, after a woman had died there, whether by murder or accident. Yuffie shivered and pressed the button pointing upwards and waited a moment before stepping inside. She wondered what Leon wanted her for, and she wondered whether she even wanted to see him after what happened yesterday. She still felt embarrassed and awkward for being in his house, and then that moment when he touched her…

Once she was inside the elevator, she pushed thoughts of yesterday out of her mind. It was in the past and she would still have to deal with Leon on a regular basis as his assistant. Yuffie sighed and relaxed, and was surprised at how much more at ease she felt being alone in the elevator. Having the police everywhere had been making her nervous. Now, inside the elevator, she was alone without anyone watching her conspicuously, pondering whether she had killed Kreya or not. Yuffie reasoned with herself that, more likely than not, no one was really thinking that – she doubted she could ever be a suspect because of her age and small frame, and her status as the newest employee of the agency. She had only been working at Rain Models for a day and Kreya had died.

The elevator door opened, and Yuffie shook the thoughts off her mind. There was nothing to worry about. Hopefully, it was all just some mistake and Kreya hadn't died of murder. Yuffie knew this was unlikely, but tried to repeat those words in her mind as she walked down the hallway to her office. An opening door on her left startled her out of her mental haze however, and Yuffie jumped back, narrowly avoiding being hit by the swinging bathroom door.

"Yuffie… just the person I was looking for," Godo said, smiling crookedly at his daughter while still fumbling with the zipper of his pants. Yuffie cringed inwardly, but at the same time she couldn't help but notice her father didn't sound as pleased to see her as he said.

"Damn zipper… always gets stuck like this," he muttered, leaning against the wall and yanking on it until it pulled up all the way.

"Hey Dad… have you seen Leon, by any chance?" Yuffie asked, thinking he would probably know. Not to mention the fact that she wanted to avoid anything else he might say to her. "He was looking for me."

"He's in the bathroom," Godo said, straightening himself up and pointing towards the door he had just exited out of. "I heard you really did accept the position as assistant. I'm happy with your progress here, Yuffie. You've been doing well. Leon seems to have accepted you, at least…"

"I know, Dad. I think someone down the hall was asking for you… maybe one of the officers." Yuffie lied to him, and only felt slightly guilty about it. Godo looked surprised and smoothed down his suit.

"Well then, I better go talk to them," he said, his face transforming to put up his signature 'professional' look, which was in actuality more like a very blank, poker face. Without another word he took off down the hall, and Yuffie sighed, watching him go. She didn't fully understand herself why she was always pulling away from him, trying to minimize their discussions as much as possible. It was something she didn't even want to think about, for fear that the reason she discovered would be worse than not knowing at all. Yuffie frowned at herself, wondering where _that_ had come from. How morbid.

"He's annoying and your dad. It's normal," Yuffie told herself under her breath as she waited for Leon to come out of the bathroom, although he was taking awhile in there. She wondered if he was hiding from the police like Axel; maybe he just had an upset stomach. If the latter was true, she didn't want to go in there and check on him. It would be embarrassing for the both of them. However, as the minutes passed, she realized he was probably the only one in there, now. Anyone else would have left long ago, and the hallway was fairly deserted. Actually, there weren't many offices on this floor but Yuffie's and some other underlings.

Leon had probably come there to find her, and she assumed her father had come for the same reason. That meant it wouldn't be a big deal if she entered the men's bathroom, because more likely than not, nobody else would go in there.

Yuffie debated for a few moments, and was about to open the door when she decided she should knock. But wouldn't that be weird to knock on a public bathroom door? What would Leon do? Yuffie smiled to herself imagining the look on his face and lifted her hand up, knocking quickly three times.

She waited another couple moments, and when there was no response (big surprise there, Yuffie thought) she opened the door slowly as bright blue tile came into view, followed by urinals that were unoccupied.

"Leon?" Yuffie asked softly, feeling a bit strange to be even _halfway_ inside a men's bathroom. She stepped inside completely. There were two stalls next to the urinals, and a row of three independent sinks under a long mirror, where Leon was standing, both hands gripping either side of one of the sinks. "Are you okay?"

Leon turned his head to look at her. He didn't look so good – she couldn't put her finger on why, but there was a strange expression on his face, like he was about to crack in half. He looked… strangely fragile. Leon looked at her blankly, without making a reply, and he didn't seem to be reacting to the fact that Yuffie was in the men's bathroom. "I heard you were looking for me…" Yuffie started to say tentatively, prompting him. She didn't know if he wanted to be alone; maybe the stress of the investigation and having someone he knew killed was too much for him, now, not to mention the threats that _he_ was receiving. To be honest, Yuffie wasn't sure how she would handle it if she were in his situation.

"Sorry," he said, turning away. "I wanted to warn you about the officers before they arrived, but they came earlier than I expected."

"Did they already question you?" Yuffie asked. Leon nodded.

"I was one of the firsts they hunted down, but I'm good friends with Cloud Strife, one of the leading officers in the investigation, so they didn't seem to question me the same as some of the others." So Leon was friends with Officer Strife. They were somewhat similar personality wise, but for some reason Yuffie couldn't imagine them together, spending time with each other, like normal people would.

"Is that a good thing or bad thing?"

"They should question everyone exactly the same. Anyone could have done it. For all they know, _I_ could have done it." Leon seemed to be gathering himself together, pushing whatever troubles he had had on his mind out of the way. Yuffie was watching him place his carefully constructed mask over his emotions without saying a word. She didn't want to butt into his business anymore than she already had.

Yuffie leaned against the wall and looked up at the ceiling, her hands against her back and pressed into the tiles. "They questioned me, too." She paused and laughed a little. "Axel is trying to avoid them."

"Axel?"

"Yeah, that red head guy. He's always in the lobby."

Leon glanced at her and dropped his hands from the sink. "I don't know who you're talking about."

"Oh… well, I guess he does something here," Yuffie said, unfazed. "He was the first person I met and he sort of told me stuff about the agency. I figured he was an assistant like me. …Hey. Why are we here anyway? There can't be any modeling going on with all this happening."

"Don't be so sure about that," Leon said with a slight smirk. "They'd have us here even if the world was ending." Suddenly, Leon seemed to belatedly realize where they were – the men's bathroom. "You shouldn't be in here."

"You were taking a long time, so I came in to check on you," Yuffie explained. _I'm _not_ a pervert._

Leon looked at her for a few long moments. "Don't bother with it again. I can handle myself," he said finally as he got up and walked towards the bathroom exit. "I won't be needing you today. Feel free to take the day off."

Yuffie frowned as the bathroom door swung open and shut. The last time she had checked, there was nothing wrong with a little concern. Not wanting to be found alone in the men's bathroom, however, Yuffie exited too, but when she stepped back into the hallway Leon was nowhere to be found. Instead, she saw a dark haired police officer, walking her way.

_Oh no, oh no. He's seen me. Leaving the men's bathroom._

Indeed, the officer looked at her as if he was trying to find some giveaway on her facial features that told him that yes, she _was _a transsexual. Why else would she be in the bathroom? he was probably thinking. Yuffie stifled a laugh, not wanting to laugh in the face of this solemn officer.

"Have you by any chance seen a man who goes by 'Axel?'" he asked her offhandedly.

"Er…" Yuffie said, then coughed twice like she was clearing her voice. "Er," she repeated again, only this time in her best impression of a male's voice. "Sorry, no."

"Oh… mention it to one of us if you do, okay?" the officer said, giving her a stranger look than before. Yuffie smiled charmingly and nodded as he left.

_Sad that's how I get my kicks. Goal one: get life. _

She waited a few moments for the officer to get a significant number of yards away from her before walking in the same direction he was going, deciding _she _would find Axel herself. After all, she had nothing else to do today, evidently.

Yuffie went to the lobby and looked around, trying to find the flight of stairs Axel had taken. She found them tucked in the corner – the stairs to the basement. The door was propped open, dark and foreboding, with barely any light to lead her down into the dripping underbelly of the agency. A chill immediately swept down her spine, raising a trail of goosebumps in its wake as she descended into the underground. Yuffie had no idea if Axel was still hiding down there, and if he wasn't, Yuffie wasn't sure what she would do – probably be scared out of her mind down there. At least no one had seemed to notice her going into the basement, although even if anyone had, she wasn't sure if they would've cared.

The long flight of stairs led her to a narrow, completely concrete hallway that branched off into two, if possible, smaller hallways, all with a number of doors scattered on each side. A few small light bulbs blinked and lit the hallways with their dim light.

"Axel?" Yuffie called, albeit quietly. She had the feeling that if she was any louder everything would echo back to her. Her only response was a rhythmic dripping somewhere in the distance, the sound of a leaking pipe, no doubt. Either way, it was creeping her out, and Yuffie was slowly getting a bad vibe from this place.

"Axel!" Yuffie called out again, walking down the first hallway. A few of the doors were opened, and she glanced in as she walked past, but all she could make out were many boxes covered in dust. It seemed like no one ever came down there by the look of things. "Axel…"

Her courage was dwindling, and she was about to turn around and run back up the stairs when she heard something in one of the rooms up ahead. Yuffie was half inclined to be afraid of it, but reason reminded her it had to be Axel.

"Goal two: get backbone," Yuffie murmured to herself under her breath as she approached the door she had assumed she heard the noise from. The door was halfway open, and as she pushed it open, her eyes had to adjust to the darkness – it wasn't lit by the lights in the hallway. The door creaked open. Yuffie's eyes darted around, but she couldn't see anything yet but a figure sitting on the floor. It was Axel.

Yuffie almost breathed a sigh of relief that another human being was down in the basement with her, but immediately she knew something was wrong. He was crouched in the corner, his shoulders shaking, but she couldn't hear a noise coming from him. Nevertheless, his hair gave him away.

"Axel…?" Yuffie asked tentatively. He lifted his head up, his eyes full of anguish. Tears streaked his face, his lips swollen from crying. He was shaking all over. Suddenly, she felt afraid. "W-What's wrong?"

'_Don't tell anyone what you saw.'_

But he didn't have to tell her. With her eyes adjusted to the lacking light, she could make out a figure laying on a row of boxes ahead of her, one arm dangling down towards the ground – his slow dripping blood making the very same sounds she had assumed was coming from a leaking pipe. His eyes stared straight up, wide and blank.

'_We were only playing games…' _

"He killed him, he killed him, he killed him…" Axel whispered, almost sing song in quality, as Yuffie sucked in her breath as the room spun frighteningly fast around her.

'_Our little secret.'_

The scream in her throat didn't have to struggle its way out – it ripped from her vocal chords and echoed back, multiplied by five, just as Yuffie had known it would before.

* * *

Ahhh I'm so sorry that I took so long in updating! I have a full explanation on my profile. I have a good reason, promise.

Look at how things are heating up, mwaha. I know the thing in the beginning seemed kind of random with Riku, but it will take on meaning later, even if it's not obvious.

I'm just really excited to get the last scene out, even if it was really saddening to write it. I wasn't intending to introduce it so soon, but I was like, hey what the heck. In sacrifice, this chapter is a sad one thousand words less than the previous chapter. Sad sad sad, I know. I try to keep them at ten pages always, but this time... I don't know. I didn't want to draw it out.

The person who died does have an identity in this story, but I actually think it's pretty obvious already, ha ha.

I'll shut up now.

PLEASE review! And to all my previous reviewers, I love you guys for taking the time out to respond. I love getting feedback.


	6. Chapter 6

Following Dawn  
-VI-

Footsteps pounded down the stairs somewhere in the distance, most likely alerted by her horrified scream, but Yuffie could barely hear them. Her throat, raw from screaming, seemed to be having a hard time taking in air as she stared transfixed at the boy she had met only a few days before, the boy who no longer existed beyond his lifeless body on this earth. The room had not stopped spinning, and Yuffie found herself stumbling back into something hard and warm – a person. Whoever it was caught her arm, but she didn't have the heart to check. Her mind, already light headed enough, was preoccupied in sorting out the images she was seeing before her.

"That's the man we've been looking for… and that's…" a voice said, which quickly trailed off. There was a shout, and Yuffie realized there were now quite a few people in the room, two of whom were picking up Axel by the arm and dragging him up. The person holding Yuffie still hadn't let go of her, though they were tightening their grip on her arm.

"Let's go," a familiar voice said in her ear.

"No… they're taking him," Yuffie said, looking around wildly to see where the men had taken Axel. "What are they doing?" The men, actually officers, were both leading him up the stairs, though she had the feeling that they weren't doing it out of kindness. They were going to question him, even after his seeing such a horrible scene. How could they do it? Did they suspect him?

She turned around and looked up into the face of Leon, who was looking at her with concern, though his own was decidedly pale and shaken. Without realizing it, Yuffie leaned into him, the images of the dripping blood and the boy's lifeless face too much for her. She had to get out of this basement. She could almost smell the smell of blood following her out of that horrible room.

"Let's go," Leon said again, more gently, and this time Yuffie complied. There was nothing she could do. They pushed past officers who were running towards the room, already speaking into their radios for backup. Yuffie was pressed up against the dry walls of the narrow hallway more than once. The basement just wasn't big enough for all of them. But Leon kept a firm grip on her arm, which he slowly moved lower to her wrist for convenience's sake, and led her up the flight of stairs to the light.

The reporters that had been outside had infiltrated the building; apparently the behavior of the police officers, which they had seen through the glass walls of the agency building, had been too tantalizing to resist. They crowded around the lobby now, and though some of the police officers were trying to herd them off, the damage was already done. Leon cursed under his breath and didn't let go of Yuffie as he took her around the back door towards the parking lot closest to the building, reserved for the models. She barely even knew where they were going – she didn't care. She just wanted to get out of that building.

Once they were outside in the air, Leon dropped her wrist. Her mind was clearing slowly, and in the fresh summer air, she felt like she could breathe again, despite the cold images that haunted her mind.

"I can't believe it," Yuffie said, speaking first. It had been the boy she had originally asked for help when Leon had been on the beach photo shoot. Somehow, his death, seeing his body in front of her, seeing his stunted youth, struck her much harder than the simple news of Kreya's murder. Here, blood had been spilled. Yuffie shuddered, feeling chilled even under the warm summer sun. "I can't believe this."

Leon was watching her as if he was expecting her to pass out any second. Any twinges of humor that Yuffie might have felt from his expression were quickly suppressed, thinking of that boy. "Thank you," Yuffie said gratefully to him. He looked surprised. "For taking me out of there. I don't know if I could have moved on my own," she explained. Leon simply nodded in response, and Yuffie smiled.

It didn't feel strange to her that Leon had grabbed hold of her. Somehow, it seemed natural. Even though he had caught her angrily twice in a bad place, and he had even scared her at times, Yuffie knew that wasn't all he was. She felt like she knew him well already, even if she had only known him for barely a week. Yuffie wondered if he felt the same, and then pushed the thought from her mind. Leon didn't seem the type of guy to feel those sort of things.

But neither of them could say anything else, because at that moment two reporters appeared at the same door they had just exited from, ready to ask them questions on what they had seen, no doubt.

"You're Godo's daughter! What were you doing down in that basement, do you have any light to shed on the situation?"

"I…" Yuffie said uncertainly.

"It's Squall, right?" one of the other reporters said to Leon. "And what were you doing there? Do you have any thoughts on the situation?"

"What situation?" Leon responded coldly, then looked towards Yuffie. "Come on."

Yuffie, not wanting to be left to the sharks, followed him to his car. He unlocked the doors and opened the front door, while Yuffie stood uncertainly next to the car. Did he seriously want her to go with him? He looked at her expectantly. "What are you waiting for? Get in."

Shrugging, Yuffie opened the door and slipped inside. She wasn't sure if this was okay – leaving with Leon. After all, Vincent was used to picking her up, but not only that, her father would no doubt be looking for her when he heard the news of what she had seen, and the fact that she had been in the basement at all. For once, she knew more than him on a situation.

Now that they were in the car together, questions came up in Yuffie's mind. _Why are you doing this? Where are we going? _being the foremost questions she could think of. Yuffie decided to ask neither.

"Did you know him?" she asked as Leon pulled out of the parking lot. He nodded, keeping his eyes carefully fixed on the road.

"I did, but not well. He was one of the newest ones at the agency."

Yuffie nodded and rested her forehead on the cool window, deciding not to speak on it anymore. After what seemed like only a few minutes, when Yuffie was blissfully half asleep, Leon's voice broke through into her dreams.

"Which way do I turn here?"

"Huuuh?" Yuffie asked sleepily.

"I'm taking you home."

Yuffie sat up and realized they were approaching a red light up ahead. "Turn left."

Leon did so, and Yuffie directed him the rest of the way to her house. He pulled into the driveway and idled there, studying the architecture of her home with mild interest. Yuffie reached out to open the door but stopped and turned to look at Leon.

"Why did you do it? Bring me home?" she asked curiously. Leon had to know that she got her rides with Vincent. Even if he didn't, he must have assumed she got home some other way.

Leon smiled slightly. "Bye Yuffie."

Yuffie looked at him with confusion, then narrowed her eyes at him. He wouldn't tell her, huh? Well, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of begging him to tell her. Yuffie got out of the car and watched Leon pull out and drive away.

It was barely the afternoon yet, and she was already done with work. As she walked up to the door and got out her keys, she thought about something she hadn't before. The state she had found Axel in hadn't surprised her when she first found him. Yuffie had figured he had been so stunned and disgusted that he had been crying like that, and she had felt the same and hadn't had time to think about it at all. But his reaction, and his statement "he killed him, he killed him"… Yuffie wondered whether he actually knew the boy who was killed.

She sighed as she opened the front door and locked it behind her. Normally she wouldn't take the extra couple seconds to do so, but she was feeling more insecure as far as safety was concerned as the days passed by.

As soon as she had taken a quick shower and changed into some sweat pants, Yuffie went into the kitchen to get a snack when she noticed the blinking red light of the answering machine, signaling two new messages. She pressed the play button and rummaged through the fridge, looking for some comfort food.

"_Beep. Mr. Kisaragi, this is Mr. Davis responding to cancel a previous business proposition. Sorry for contacting your home phone – I couldn't get through to your cell—"_

Yuffie skipped the message, not really caring, though she could only imagine how her father would respond when he heard _that_ message first thing when he came home. As she pulled out some chip dip, a message from her father started playing.

"_YUFFIE. Where are you? You just disappeared out of no where! It's insane over here, people are relating you to the accident, I'm up to my ears in complaints and—"_

Yuffie angrily pressed the delete button on the answering machine and listened with simmering satisfaction as the neutral male's voice spoke, "Message deleted." First of all, if he was relating that obvious _murder _to an accident, he was insane, and after what she had seen, he was only concerned about his image? Yuffie felt so disgusted she didn't even feel like eating chips anymore, and shoved the dip back into the refrigerator.

Instead, she decided to watch T.V. and quickly pressed 'power' on the remote control as she plopped down onto one of the leather couches after entering the den. Before she could see the picture on the screen, she was hearing the dialogue between two news anchors.

"We have breaking news that the police have arrested a suspect involving the RM agency case. Local police involved in the investigation say a young man found at the scene of the crime may in fact play a key role in breaking the case – if he is not the case breaker himself. While his identification has not been revealed, our news channel has an unreleased photograph, exclusive here on News Channel 7."

Suddenly, a picture of an unmistakable man popped onto the screen. It was Axel.

* * *

Yuffie stood in front of the garage door as it slowly pulled up and retracted into the ceiling. A few cars came into view – cars covered in plastic to keep the dust off, although it would have been fairly obvious to anyone that no one had touched these cars in years, so there was really no point in keeping the covers on them.

She really had no idea what she was doing, other than get into one of the cars and start driving. All Yuffie knew was that she needed to clear her mind. She was angry. Angry at her father, angry at Axel, angry at the news anchors for being imbeciles, and angry at herself for even being angry in the first place.

The roads were relatively empty, even as she drove downtown and followed the roads wherever they led her. She tried paying attention to the road while getting caught up in her thoughts at the same time. How could they have arrested Axel? If she hadn't discovered the boy's body – besides Axel of course – then maybe she would have believed he could have something to do with it. But the state she had seen him in, and what he had been saying before his police escort – no. There was no way he did it. He cared about that boy, whoever he was. Surely, the police would realize that, too.

Before she knew it, Yuffie was in front of the agency. She couldn't remember how long she had been driving, or even what time of day it was. It could have been after closing hours for all she knew. Either way, she parked behind the building and walked through the back doors, which weren't locked. _Those really need to be locked up, _Yuffie thought to herself, thinking with a chill how easy it would be for any insane person to walk into the building without anyone knowing any better.

The hallways were empty, but that hardly surprised Yuffie. They always were. Still, images of the dead boy haunted her thoughts as she traversed the darker parts of the building. The lobby didn't come into sight quickly enough, but before she could step into the light, someone stepped in front of her vision.

Yuffie gasped and stepped backward, but the person held their hands up quickly. They also took a step backwards, but they stepped into the light. A tall, slender man with dark brown hair parted deeply on one side stared at her with a slight smile, light blue eyes bearing into hers. He looked rather familiar, though she was certain she had never met him before. Or had she?

"Yuffie," the man said warmly. "Don't be afraid. I don't bite. Don't you remember me?"

"Remember you?" Yuffie asked, crossing her arms without realizing it. "No, I've never met you before in my life."

"Oh no, you have," the man said humorously, as if he found this amusing. "Although, to be honest, you probably _were_ too young to remember it… and it has been too long. How long have you worked here, and we still haven't met formally?"

Yuffie remained silent. He laughed lightly and extended his hand. "I formed Rain Models with your father, Yuffie. I'm Laguna Loire… remember now?"

She nodded and took his hand, shaking it once. She did remember the name, though it was rarely uttered within her household. Not for any reason Yuffie could think of; Godo just never seemed to think mentioning his co-owner was very important. Yuffie smiled back at him, for he was beaming now, as if he had just revealed something very special.

"I know now probably isn't the best time for introductions, what with all of the commotion going on, but when I saw you coming I decided to stop you. Ah, you've really grown into a beauty. Hope I didn't scare you too much!"

Yuffie shook her head, embarrassed. Well, this one was a talker. "Oh no, you didn't scare me. I was just… I came back because Go—my dad left me a message at home."

"Oh, I see. Godo's pretty busy right now, meeting with some of the investigators, actually. He should be free soon. I'm a bit busy myself, so I better get going. Well, it was nice meeting you, Yuffie… _again_."

With that, he winked and walked away. Yuffie stared after him, unnerved. He had seemed so familiar to her (in both meanings of the word – he certainly was friendly), and he had said they'd met before, but at the same time, that had been years and years ago. She watched him walk up the staircase to the second floor and observed he was very good looking. Yuffie wondered if he had ever been a model himself.

"Yuffie! Where have you been?!" a voice called from across the lobby. Yuffie jumped at the tone of the person's voice – the voice of her father.

"Dad! I thought you were in some kind of meeting," Yuffie said uncertainly, walking over to meet her father, who was storming over to her quickly. "I just met Laguna Loire." _Good girl, Yuffie. Try to change the subject._

"Do you have any idea what people have been saying? About how you were with that—that scum when he was discovered with the body?!" he asked angrily, ignoring her last statement. Yuffie sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Who cares what they say? What does it matter?"

"What does it matter? It matters to this business! The reputation of this business and me!"

"The only thing that's ruining this business' reputation is all these murders. Did you know that the backdoor to the building was unlocked, Dad? Anyone could come in here and just kill someone if they wanted," Yuffie said, getting angry now. "Don't blame me for walking into a murder scene. I didn't intentionally go looking for the body of a person that I hadn't even known had been killed."

Godo stopped his yelling, but he didn't appear too appeased. "I can see it's no use talking sense into you. You better just be careful, Yuffie. And tomorrow, there is a party you have to be at."

"If I remember correctly, I told you I would never go to one of your parties again."

"It isn't for me, it's for Leon. As his assistant, you need to be there. He might need something, and they might take a few shots of him if they like him. It will be high class. You'll need a nice outfit."

"Dad – just go, okay? Stop dictating to me what I need or do not need to do," Yuffie said just as she started walking away.

"Whether you like it or not, I'm your boss now, Yuffie – more of your boss than even Leon is. And I'm your father. Never forget that."

Yuffie was already a few feet away from him, when she remembered something and turned around. "Axel didn't do it. You better tell the police that. I know he didn't."

Godo smirked. "Did you know that Axel has a history of committing arson and has been evaluated for pyromania? Did you know that he may have set that fire behind the building?"

Yuffie stopped, her jaw dropping slightly. She specifically remembered Axel mentioning that fire before he slipped away. Now she was uncertain – but at the same time, even if he did set fires, did that necessarily mean he would kill someone in cold blood?

"Setting fires doesn't correlate with murder the last time I checked," Yuffie said coolly, though her fists were clenched tightly behind her back, betraying her frustration and anger. "Whatever, Dad. I was there. I saw his reaction. He didn't kill him!"

"Didn't he, though? Did you know the relationship between Axel… and Roxas?"

"Roxas, the boy who was murdered?" Yuffie repeated. "What?"

Godo shrugged, as if he was nonchalant when Yuffie knew he was so far from it. "I heard rumors that Axel… isn't such a womanizer as he would have others believe. That he had something for the boy Roxas. It was a one way street, though."

Yuffie looked at him, stunned. If what Godo was saying was the truth, then she never would have guessed Axel liked men. But when it came to her father, she never knew what was true and false. "Why are you so adamant on blaming Axel? Who cares who he liked and didn't? Who cares what he does as long as he's a good person and doesn't do it anymore?"

"Because, if Axel did indeed commit these crimes, then he needs to be punished. I hired him knowing his criminal history, and I never should have. I'm sorry, Yuffie. I knew you were friends with him."

Yuffie glared. She hated when he did this – switched his moods like this. She shook her head. "I'm leaving. For real this time."

She didn't wait for his reply and walked back towards the hallway she had come from. Coming to the agency had been a mistake. The only thing she had accomplished was meeting the man who had started this stupid agency with her father in the first place.

* * *

The text came in late the next day.

_Godo told you about the party? It's fancy. Dress well. Meet you there. _

Yuffie stared down at the text from Leon and snapped her phone shut. She had to go to a party today of all days. She sighed and stared at her wardrobe, wishing she had picked up something nice. Yuffie also wondered how fancy was 'fancy?' Did she even have anything suitable?

She thumbed through her outfits, finally settling on a form fitting black dress that stopped right above the knee and a pair of heels. The dress lacked sleeves or support of any kind – it stopped a few inches above the swell of her breasts, so she put on a matching jacket for good measure; the kind that stopped near her ribcage. It was a very put together, fancy look – and Yuffie could only claim this because she hadn't been the one to fit them together. Her father had bought it for her from a designer a few years back, but she had been too young to fill out the chest part.

Now as she was turning and looking at herself in the mirror, she realized the dress looked really good on her. _Thank god I have boobs now. Otherwise this top would keep falling off… like the last time I tried to wear it…_

Yuffie applied a bit of dark eye makeup and lip gloss and pushed a thin black headband in her hair. It was finally finished. She looked like a classy woman ready for a stuffy tea party.

"And stuffy tea party I'm going to get," Yuffie muttered to herself under her breath as she waited for Vincent to come pick her up. She waited outside on the curb then hopped in as soon as he pulled up. Vincent barely even glanced at her when she climbed in.

Yuffie could hardly bear it, even after a minute or so. "Well, aren't you going to comment on my appearance?"

Vincent looked at her from the mirror. "Cute," he said, in such a way that it made Yuffie think he thought otherwise. Why was it that he always made her feel so stupid?

"_Thanks_ Vincent," Yuffie replied.

It didn't take very long to arrive at the hotel the party was hosted at. She could see a few people, mostly couples, walking into the hotel, looking very elegant, and making Yuffie feel that much more childish and out of place.

_Oh well, it doesn't matter. I'm not one of the models here, I'm just an assistant. I'm allowed to look less nice than them! Hmph._

Yuffie waved to Vincent and walked towards the doors, her heels wobbling slightly as she stepped towards the doors. She wasn't used to wearing shoes with height. Two men dressed in uniform opened the doors for her, and she thanked them, ducking her head in embarrassment; those smiles on their faces had to be laughter at her inexperience in heels.

The whole ground floor of the hotel had been taken up by the party. Clusters of people stood around chattering, holding glasses of wine, champagne, or some other kind of alcoholic beverages, laughing and chattering amongst themselves. _Why_ did Yuffie have to come again?

She stepped further inside and walked around, trying to find a familiar face and felt a sense of déjà vu from the last time she had done the whole party scene.

"Yuffie," a voice said behind her. Yuffie stopped and turned around, finding Leon standing behind her in a tuxedo and holding two glasses of something bubbly. He handed on to her and Yuffie took it uncertainly. "You look…"

"Silly?" Yuffie filled in, the glass cold in her hands.

"…nice," he finished, looking slightly amused. "Did you just get here?"

"Yes…" she said, frowning. "Do I really have to stay long? I don't see any other assistants here. Everyone looks so…"

"Didn't Godo tell you?" Leon asked, looking suddenly uncomfortable. Yuffie was filled with a sense of dread.

"Tell me what?"

"Nothing. Make sure to eat and drink as much as you want before it's all gone. I'll be around."

Yuffie nodded and took a big sip of the drink in her hands. The bubbles tickled her nose, but at least she felt a bit better having something to do with her hands. She walked over to the bar and sat down just as someone started playing the piano in the corner. The bartender was very busy mixing drinks and taking people's orders. Yuffie shook her head when he asked her if she wanted anything.

Yuffie drained her drink and realized she really had to go to the bathroom. She pushed herself off the barstool and looked around for the ladies' room, which would have been easy to find, if there hadn't been such a large crowd in the room blocking her view of the doors and walls. Once she found it she quickly shut herself off in a stall and pulled her dress up. There were a few other women in the room, and Yuffie was unable to bring herself to pee with them in there. It was a silly thing, but she couldn't help it. She hated peeing when others could hear her.

Thankfully, the women had already used the bathroom and were washing their hands. Yuffie waited, squirming impatiently.

"Did you see Leon tonight?" one of the woman asked to her friend, laughter in her voice. "Oh god, he looks delectable.

_Delectable? Who the hell says _that? Yuffie was only slightly uncomfortable listening to them speak about him that way.

"Mm, he certainly does. Too bad he's had a few women over his house lately. What do you think? Player?"

"I don't care what he is. I'm taking him home with me if it's the last thing I do tonight."

"Oh, you're bad."

Yuffie just about gagged as she waited for them to get out of the bathroom. So much for the classy image these women carried. They were just as trashy as some of the girls at her high school. Old high school, anyway – she was an alumni now.

Finally, they left and Yuffie could carry on with her business. Still, she couldn't help but feel annoyed with the things those two women had been saying. She would have to keep an eye out for any women hanging off his arm tonight.

Yuffie washed her hands, taking her time, and exited the bathroom just as she spotted Riku leaving the adjacent one.

"Riku!" Yuffie exclaimed with surprise. "You're out of the hospital!"

"Yep, good as new," he replied, looking her over. "Wow, you look great."

"Thanks," Yuffie replied, smoothing her dress down self consciously. "It's so stuffy in here. And I don't just mean the weather."

Riku snickered. "I know, but it can't be helped. I have to go find my date. If I don't, she might kill me. No… seriously."

Yuffie looked at him uneasily. "You heard about what happened when you were gone, right?"

Riku sobered a bit. "I did. The police came and found me at the hospital. My mom was pissed. I can't believe it."

"I know," Yuffie said, just as a tall woman walked up to Riku and placed a hand possessively on Riku's shoulder. His eyes widened meaningfully at Yuffie.

"Riku, what's taking you so long? Who is this?" the woman asked, eyeing Yuffie up and down.

"Yuffie, Cecilia, Cecilia, Yuffie."

"Riku, let's go. I'm due to play piano in ten minutes."

Riku waved at Yuffie, looking a bit annoyed at his date, but followed her anyway. Yuffie sighed and went back to the barstool, which was still empty, surprisingly enough. She didn't know what to do with herself. Riku was busy with his date and Leon… she didn't have the heart to go find him. She hadn't been at the agency long enough to know anyone else, other than Axel, and she wasn't even sure he was a model.

In order to have something to do, Yuffie ordered a drink – she couldn't even remember what she had asked for – and started drinking. And she wasn't the only one. Even rich people like free things, and the bartender was being worked to the bone with the amount of drinks he was making. That didn't stop Yuffie from ordering another, then another. She wasn't trying to drink, in fact, she had never been a big drinker. It just so happened that it was a lot better to sit alone and drink than sit alone and stare around at all the other people sitting near her.

The woman next to her struck up a conversation with her, and soon they were laughing with each other like they had been best friends for life. She ordered different drinks for Yuffie, forcing her to try different things once Yuffie told her she wasn't a drinker and was, in fact, underage. The woman seemed to be making it her mission to show Yuffie the world of alcohol, and with three drinks already under her belt, Yuffie was loosened up enough to go along with it.

While Yuffie was getting drunk, the party had escalated from a high class gathering to something a little more loose. Quite a few of the groups had used the drinks to their advantage as well, and the piano was ditched for something a little more interesting.

Most of the lobby had been turned into a dance floor, and Yuffie's new companion (she didn't even know her name) dragged her out and started dancing. Yuffie giggled and joined in, mixing with other groups of people and eventually separating herself from her companion.

Someone pushed Yuffie, whether purposely or accidentally, but either way she found herself in the arms of a man, and dancing with him not soon after. Yuffie wondered to herself why she had hated this party in the first place. She was having a great time, and this man was such a nice dancer…

Yuffie lifted her eyes to his and realized she was dancing with Leon. Something in her mind was trying to shake some sense in her, but her thought were foggy. She just wanted to dance. Leon seemed to be just as uninhibited as she was, and put his hands on her waist, pulling her closer. Yuffie wrapped her arms around his neck in response and followed the beat of the music. She couldn't remember letting go of him the whole night – except to dance with Riku, but that hadn't lasted very long, since his date intercepted not very long into it.

Eventually, though, midnight came and it was then that Yuffie realized how late it was. Wasn't Vincent waiting for her? She couldn't remember, and as soon as she thought of it she had already forgotten him. Many people had already left the party, probably on to better prospects.

"Let's go," Leon said to her for the second time that week, and she followed him willingly to his car. He was drunk, but not too drunk to walk, and he led Yuffie out to the car, who was stumbling a bit. She got into the car and he went around to the driver's side. As soon as he was in the car, Yuffie leaned over towards him. He had been so nice to her tonight. She was hot from dancing, and he had been such a nice dancer. Maybe…

Yuffie put her lips on his, not knowing what she was doing, but she didn't care. She wrapped her arms around him and he responded, kissing her back with equal energy. Yuffie put her hands in his hair and he groaned into her mouth as he kissed down her neck. Yuffie sighed and turned her head to allow him better access, but it wasn't long before she was really uncomfortable kissing him over the seats.

Yuffie put her hand over his face and clumsily pushed him away. "No… let's leave."

She didn't have to say much more than that. Leon started the car and pulled out of the hotel parking lot. It could have been five minutes or fifteen minutes when he finally stopped the car. Yuffie hadn't been keeping track. When she opened the car door she nearly fell out onto the pavement. Leon helped her to the door. She had no idea where she was, but that wasn't on her mind. She just wanted to get inside.

Yuffie felt herself fall into another time lapse, and the next thing she knew, she was on the bed, kissing Leon, with no idea of how she got there. She ran her hands over his bare chest and realized she was lying on top of him, her hips straddling his. What was she doing? Were all her clothes on? Yuffie wracked her brain but it was hard to think with his lips all over her. She closed her eyes and let herself fall into him.

* * *

Sorry this chapter is a bit late! So. Yuffie's not behaving very well. I guess we'll see what she's done in the next chapter, right?

Please review! I've worked really hard to make sure I got this chapter up before I went to bed (it's four AM over here). It won't take much energy on your part, and I'd be so grateful. Even constructive criticism will do. Pleaase?


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